Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the availability of NHS appointments.

We have already achieved our pledge to deliver two million extra elective appointments in England, as a first step to delivering on the commitment that 92% of patients will wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment by March 2029.

The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, sets out the productivity and reform efforts needed to deliver more elective care in England. This includes: expecting community diagnostic centres to open 12 hours a day, seven days per week; launching and expanding 17 new surgical hubs; investing in new DEXA scanners to deliver 29,000 more scans; and streamlining patients’ care pathways and reducing unnecessary appointments.

We are also committed to improving access and capacity in general practices (GPs). That’s why, in October 2024, we provided an £82 million boost to the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme, enabling the recruitment of 1,000 newly qualified GPs across England. This will increase the number of appointments delivered in GPs, benefitting thousands of patients.