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 improve paediatric care in hospitals.

The Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever and improving paediatric care in hospitals will be critical to achieving this ambition. Through the Elective Reform Plan, we have set out how we will deliver the 18-week referral target for all those waiting for care by March 2029, including children and young people. The Plan is available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/reforming-elective-care-for-patients.pdf.

The Urgent and Emergency Care Plan 2025/26, published jointly by the Department and NHS England on 6 June 2025, also outlines increasing the number of children seen within 4 hours of attending A&E as a priority area. To achieve this, NHS trusts have been asked to make use of urgent treatment centres and to revise services and standards to meet the needs of children and young people. The Plan is available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/urgent-and-emergency-care-plan-2025-26/.