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 the extent of backlogs in elective surgery at (a) the Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust and (b) the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust.

As of March 2022, there were 44,286 patients waiting for elective treatment at the Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust, of which 193 waited over 52 weeks and two waited more than 104 weeks. In March 2022, there were 1,502 patients waiting for elective treatment at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, of which six waited over 52 weeks. No patients waited more than 104 weeks.

The Department is investing more than £8 billion over the next three years to increase elective activity and reduce waiting lists. This is in addition to the £2 billion Elective Recovery Fund and £700 million Targeted Investment Fund already made available to systems in 2021/22. This funding could deliver the equivalent of approximately nine million further checks, scans and procedures and aims to deliver 30% more elective activity by 2024/25 compared to pre-pandemic levels.