Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of people on NHS waiting lists in Chichester constituency.

The Government is committed to putting patients first. Tackling waiting lists is a key part of our Health Mission. We have now exceeded our pledge to deliver an extra two million operations, scans, and appointments, having now delivered 4.9 million more appointments. 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. Our Reforming elective care for patients plan, published in January, sets out how the NHS will reform elective care services and deliver on our ambitions.

We are transforming diagnostics to cut long waits through community diagnostic centres (CDCs). Patients in the Chichester constituency are likely to be referred to either Bognor Regis War Memorial Hospital CDC, which has been delivering diagnostic activity since November 2021, or the University of Chichester Bognor Regis CDC, which has been delivering diagnostic activity since March.

Dedicated and protected surgical hubs are transforming the way that NHS provides elective care by focusing on high-volume low-complexity surgeries. As of September, there are currently 120 operational surgical hubs across England. In Sussex, there is currently one operational surgical hub, at the Sussex Orthopaedic Treatment Centre, which opened in 2012. These surgical hubs help separate elective care facilities from urgent and emergency care, improving outcomes for patients and reducing pressures on hospitals. The Department is committed to ramping up the number of hubs over the next three years so that more operations can be carried out.