Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Department of Health and Social Care and the Office for National Statistics Direct and Indirect health impacts of COVID-19 in England, published on 17 September, what assessment they have made of the 51 per cent decrease in the number of newly diagnosed cases of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in 2020 compared to 2019.

No official assessment has been made of the reduction of diagnosed cases of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

As announced as a part of the spending review, £2.3 billion has been allocated to increase the volume of diagnostic activity and roll out Community Diagnostic Centres (CDC) to help clear backlogs of people waiting for clinical tests, such as MRIs, ultrasounds, and CT scans.

This will help to improve the waiting times for conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and increase the number of people seen for diagnostic tests.