Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress the Government has made on meeting the target set out in the 2015 Comprehensive Spending Review to provide 2 million more diagnostic tests per year by 2020-21; and if he will make a statement.

NHS England publishes monthly data on diagnostic waiting times which includes the volume of patients waiting for a diagnostic test at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/diagnostics-waiting-times-and-activity/monthly-diagnostics-waiting-times-and-activity/

In 2017/18 the National Health Service carried out 21.9 million diagnostic tests, nearly 1.7 million more than in 2015/16.

The Long Term Plan launched on 7 January 2019 by the NHS and supported by the Government sets out plans to improve and modernise diagnostic processes to meet the demands of a modern National Health Service.