Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government over what timescale the delivery of an additional 40,000 elective NHS appointments per week will be achieved.

Tackling waiting lists is a key part of our Health Mission, and we will deliver an additional 2 million operations, scans, and appointments during our first year in Government, which is equivalent to 40,000 per week, as a first step in our commitment to ensuring that patients can expect to be treated within 18 weeks. Further details regarding the additional appointments will be confirmed at the earliest opportunity.