Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress his Department has made to reduce the backlog in disabled children’s therapies and health services.

There are no legal referral targets for disabled children’s health services. The NHS Constitution for England provides that patients have the right to access certain services, which may include health services for disabled children, within maximum waiting times, or for the National Health Service to offer suitable alternatives if this is not possible.

We have made £2 billion available in 2021/22 and a further £8 billion from April 2022 to March 2025 to increase activity, tackle backlogs in elective care services and reduce waiting times for patients, including disabled children. This funding could deliver the equivalent of approximately nine million more checks, scans and procedures. The NHS will aim to deliver 30% more elective activity by 2024/25 compared to pre-pandemic levels. A further £5.9 billion of capital funding was announced in October 2021 to support elective recovery, diagnostics and technology.