Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of ICB-enforced mandatory minimum waiting times for cataract surgery on differences in regional healthcare standards; and what steps she is taking to reduce waiting times in Leicester East constituency.

In Leicester East and across the country, integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning services to meet the needs of their local populations within available resources, and the NHS Standard Contract allows local commissioners to set activity planning assumptions to manage demand, capacity, and expenditure. We remain committed to restoring the NHS constitutional standard that 92% of patients should wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment by March 2029.