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 reduce waiting times for neurology health services.

Cutting waiting lists is a key priority for the Government. We have exceeded our pledge to deliver an extra two million operations, scans, and appointments, having delivered 5.2 million more appointments across elective care services. 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 NHS constitutional standard, by March 2029.

Between August 2024 and 2025, we reduced the number of incomplete neurology pathways by almost 10,000, or 4.3%, from 236,621 to 226,432, and reduced the average waiting time for neurology services from 16.7 to 15.4 weeks. 56.1% of patients referred were seen within 18 weeks, up from 53.1% at the same point last year. This is still lower than the national average and we are continuing efforts to improve this, recognising this is a challenged specialty.

The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, commits to reform outpatient services, including by supporting general practitioners and hospital doctors to work better together to ensure referrals are used when a patient really needs hospital care, through increased uptake of Advice and Guidance. There are a number of initiatives at the national level supporting service improvement and better care for patients with neurological conditions, including the UK-wide Neuro Forum, the RightCare Progressive Neurological Conditions Toolkit and the Getting It Right First Time programme for neurology.