Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recourse to action patients who have had scheduled operations cancelled by Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership, citing funding pauses, have in order to secure the surgeries they need at the earliest opportunity.

Reducing waiting lists is a key part of the Government’s Health Mission, and we are committed to putting patients first by ensuring that they are seen on time and that they have the best possible experience of care. Since this Government came into office, the waiting list for routine appointments, operations and procedures in England has been cut by 225,852. This is despite 28.4 million referrals onto the waiting list.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) have existing contractual powers to manage activity by providers, which were enhanced in 2025/26 with central support for setting and managing activity. Commissioners’ use of these powers support systems to live within their means and to deploy better financial discipline than previous years where systems have overspent.

We expect use of activity management provisions by local systems to support efforts in achieving the goal of at least 65% of patients waiting no longer than 18 weeks for treatment by March 2026 whilst living within financial budgets set for 2025/26.

All trusts are expected to have their own safeguards to ensure that patients waiting for planned care are triaged, and that appointments take place according to clinical priority and the length of time patients have waited, avoiding risk of serious complications. Patients have the right to request their local ICB find an alternative provider when they have been waiting, or expect to wait, over 18 weeks to begin treatment for consultant-led care.