Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answers of 1 April 2026 to Question 122780 and 25 March 2026 to Question 120988 on General Practitioners: Contracts and with reference to the oral statement of 16 April 2026 on the Women's Health Strategy, whether waiting times for patients who are offered secondary care following an Advice and Guidance (A&G) request in (a) March, (b) April, (c) May, (d) June, (e) July, (f) August, (g) September, (h) October and (i) November 2026.will be calculated from (i) the date the A&G request is received, (ii) the date the A&G request is accepted as a referral and (iii) other dates on the pathway.

As per long-standing practice, an Advice and Guidance (A&G) request itself does not begin the formal period of waiting. If a referral is then made, the waiting time is calculated from when the provider receives notice of that referral

When providers move to an elective Single Point of Access (SPoA) model, as set out in the Medium Term Planning Framework, for patients referred for secondary care treatment following an A&G request, the waiting time will be calculated from the date the request is received by the SPoA.