Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) children and (b) adults are waiting for outpatient appointments by (i) their average wait time and (ii) the appointment required in the NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care Board.

Patients have been let down for too long whilst they wait for the care they need. The Government will ensure that 92% of patients return to waiting no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment within our first term, a standard which has not been met consistently since September 2015. Outpatients make up most of the waiting list, so transforming outpatient services is a key part of the Government’s approach to cutting waiting times.

The overall mean average waiting time for children waiting for an outpatient appointment in the NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care Board (ICB) is 23.3 weeks, with the median being 21.4 weeks, and the overall mean waiting time for adults waiting for an outpatient appointment is 21.2 weeks, while the median is 18.4 weeks.

The number of cases where children are waiting in the NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin ICB for a first outpatient appointment is 4,471, and for a follow up outpatient appointment is 715. The number of cases where adults are waiting in the NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin ICB for a first outpatient appointment is 45,272, and for a follow up outpatient appointment is 12,500.