Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of (a) value-weighted activity appointments and (b) diagnostic NHS appointments that will take place in (i) 2024-25, (ii) 2025-26 and (iii) by the end of this Parliament.

As set out in the Plan for Change, we will ensure 92% of patients return to waiting no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment by March 2029, a standard which has not been met consistently since September 2015.

Thanks to funding announced in the Autumn Budget 2024, we have delivered an additional two million operations, scans, and appointments between July and November 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, as a first step in our commitment to ensuring patients can expect to be treated within 18 weeks.

NHS Operational Planning Guidance for 2025/26 sets out that systems are expected to deliver activity consistent with the national value weighted activity target of 118%. Levels beyond this period will be agreed as part of the forthcoming Spending Review process.