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 improve diagnosis and treatment times in paediatric services.

Paediatric services are covered by the Referral to Treatment (RTT) waiting times standard that requires commissioners to make arrangements to ensure that at least 92% of patients referred to see a consultant-led team should start their treatment within 18 weeks. Part of the £1.6 billion additional funding that the National Health Service will receive in 2018/19 will be used to deliver the actions set out in the NHS planning guidance for 2018-19 as key steps towards recovering performance on core access standards, including RTT.