Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the level of the backlog of maintenance work at Northwick Park hospital; and if he will make a statement.

The Department collects data on backlog maintenance annually from National Health Service trusts through its Estates Returns Information Collection. The accuracy of the data is the responsibility of the contributing NHS organisations. The total backlog maintenance for Northwick Park Hospital for 2018-19 was £141 million.

Improving the quality and safety of the NHS estate is a key part of the NHS Long Term Plan. Reduction and elimination of backlog maintenance is an element of this, combined with simultaneously making the estate better through reconfiguration. These steps will enable NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts, not primary or social care, to maintain their services and ensure they can provide patients with high quality care, both now and in future.