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 potential impact of the resident doctors pay settlement on waiting lists for elective care.

Resident doctor strikes have cost the taxpayer over £1.7 billion, with almost 1.5 million appointments being rescheduled, increasing waiting times for patients.

The previous Health Secretary hadn’t met with junior doctors since March 2023. My Right Honourable Friend the Secretary of State, called them on day 1, met them on week 1 and resolved the pay dispute in week 3.

Now resident doctors can get on with their work and we will deliver an extra 40,000 appointments per week to bring down waiting lists.