Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has put plans in place (a) nationally and (b) locally to help tackle waiting lists for breast reconstruction surgery.

The NHS Cancer Programme has asked Cancer Alliances to ensure that wherever possible, surgery takes place with immediate breast reconstruction and to seek opportunities to accelerate reconstruction for those women who have not undergone the procedure following previous breast surgery during the pandemic. The NHS Cancer Programme has stated that no local time limits should be applied to reconstructive surgery, in particular where the reconstructive surgery has been delayed as a result of the pandemic.