Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what was the average (a) cost and (b) waiting time for an outpatient paediatric ophthalmology appointment in the 2023-24 financial year..

Patients have been let down for too long whilst they wait for the care they need, including children awaiting hospital-based eyecare. The Government will ensure that 92% of patients return to waiting no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment (RTT) within our first term, a standard which has not been met consistently since September 2015. Outpatient services make up most of elective activity, so transforming outpatient services is a key part of our approach to cutting paediatric waiting times.

In 2023/24, the national mean average unit cost of an outpatient paediatric ophthalmology attendance without a procedure was £140, and the mean average national unit cost of a paediatric ophthalmology outpatient procedure was £248. In 2023/24, the median average waiting time for a first outpatient attendance for paediatric ophthalmology was 58 days, and the mean average waiting time was 97 days.