Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce waiting lists for cardiac treatments.

Tackling waiting lists is a key part of our Health Mission. The waiting list for England at the end of August stood at 7.64 million patient pathways, with 418,669 waiting for treatment for cardiology.

We will deliver an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments per week, including in cardiology services, as a first step in our commitment to ensuring patients can expect to be treated within 18 weeks, supported by new funding announced at the Autumn Budget. We will be supporting National Health Service trusts to deliver these through innovation, sharing best practice to increase productivity and efficiency, and ensuring the best value is delivered.

The Government is committed to putting patients first. This means making sure that patients across all specialities, including cardiology, are seen on time, and ensuring that people have the best possible experience during their care. We know that waiting lists are a challenge across the United Kingdom and the Government is keen to take a collaborative approach so that there is strong recovery across all four nations.