Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of trends in the length of NHS waiting lists in the Black Country since 4 July 2024.

In July 2024, the waiting list at the Black Country Integrated Care Board (ICB) was 192,268. Of these, 110,482, or 57.5% of pathways, were waiting within 18 weeks.

The latest data shows that as of March 2025, the waiting list at the Black Country ICB has decreased by over 13,631, to 178,637 since July 2024. Of these, 102,618, 57.4% of pathways were waiting within 18 weeks.

We promised change, and we’ve delivered early, with a reduction in the list of over 200,000 pathways. We have also now exceeded our pledge to deliver an extra two million operations, scans, and appointments, having now delivered over 3.5 million more appointments across the country.

This marks a vital First Step to delivering on the commitment that 92% of patients will wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment, in line with the National Health Service constitutional standard, by March 2029.