Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the average waiting time for patients to receive a blood test result; and if he will make a statement.

To help increase the volume of diagnostic activity and reduce patient waiting times, the Department has committed £2.3 billion to transform diagnostic services. This includes the roll out of up to 160 Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs) by March 2025, 108 of which are already operational. Large and standard CDCs provide pathology services, including phlebotomy services. This funding will also improve digital infrastructure, which will help the National Health Service speed up turnaround times of tests.