Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) reserve and (b) regular service personnel are on a waiting list for orthopaedic surgery.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is not responsible for reserves healthcare, except when mobilised and does not hold data on how many reserve service personnel are awaiting orthopaedic surgery.

For regular service personnel, the number on a waiting list for the combined trauma and orthopaedic service is 1,447 in England. This figure is provided by NHS England and is the most recent data held by MOD. This figure does not include the number of regular Service personnel who have been referred through the fast-track contract with a private healthcare provider.

The number of regular Service personnel currently on a waiting list for orthopaedic surgery is 18 in Scotland. This includes five on NHS waiting lists and 13 who have been referred through the fast-track contract with a private healthcare provider. In Northern Ireland the number of regular service personnel currently on a waiting list for orthopaedic surgery is six. Wales has a total of seven regular service personnel awaiting orthopaedic surgery or an orthopaedic appointment.