Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of waiting times at York Hospital on patients in January (a) 2025 and (b) 2026.

We know that patients have been let down for too long, with their health deteriorating, while they wait for the care they need.

Reducing waiting lists is a key part of the Government’s Health Mission, and we are putting patients first by ensuring that they are seen on time and that they have the best possible experience of care across the country, including at York Hospital.

As set out in the Plan for Change, we are committed to returning by March 2029 to the National Health Service constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment, with an interim target of 65% by March 2026.

The Department does not hold waiting list data for January 2026 and at a hospital level. The latest waiting list data for the York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, as of November 2025, shows that 55.7% of waits are below 18 weeks, a 0.2 percentage point improvement from the previous year.