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 tackle elective care waiting times including joint replacement surgery in (a) Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket and (b) nationally.

The Government is committed to putting patients first, nationally and in Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket. This means making sure that patients, including those waiting for joint replacement surgery, are seen on time and ensuring that people have the best possible experience during their care.

Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket is predominantly served by the West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust. Over half, or 50.9%, of patients on the trauma and orthopaedic waiting list, which includes joint replacement surgery, were waiting within 18 weeks, an improvement of 7.9% since July 2024, and the number waiting more than 52 weeks has also fallen by over 70%.

Nationally, the number of patients on trauma and orthopaedic waiting lists waiting within 18 weeks has improved by 3.6% and the number waiting more than 52 weeks has fallen by over 16,000 in the same period.

We set out in the 2025 Elective Reform Plan the productivity and reform efforts needed to reach the National Health Service constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment by March 2029. The plan outlines actions that will help to ensure care is delivered in the right place, and includes £1.65 billion of capital funding in 2025/26 to deliver new surgical hubs, diagnostic scanners, and beds to increase capacity for elective and emergency care.

Currently, there are 123 surgical hubs operational across England, including two in the Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care System, and we are committed to expanding the number of hubs over the next three years to increase surgical capacity and deliver faster access to common procedures, including trauma and orthopaedic procedures.

In December 2024, we opened the Newmarket Community Diagnostic Centre which increased diagnostic capacity, with over 34,000 scans conducted for more than 21,000 patients, and which led to a 53% reduction in the magnetic resonance imaging waiting list between December 2024 and October 2025. As of September 2025, community diagnostic centres are now delivering additional tests and checks in 170 sites. We have also confirmed 13 new state-of-the-art DEXA scanners to support better bone care, delivering on this Government’s commitment in the Elective Reform Plan. These will allow for an extra 29,000 bone scans per year, benefitting tens of thousands of patients.