Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of minimum waiting times on patients awaiting surgical procedures in (1) the South West Lincolnshire CCG area, and (2) England.
No such assessment has been made.
How trusts schedule surgical procedures is for local determination but national guidance and support is available from NHS England and NHS Improvement to support trusts to meet maximum waiting times standards. Clinical priority is the main determinant of when patients should be treated followed by the chronological order of when they were added to the waiting list.