Surgery: Waiting Lists
(asked on 21st January 2026) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer to Question UIN 82954, answered on 15 January 2026, what activities the £18,818,566 paid by NHS England for validation exercises (April to September 2025) funded; whether those payments were made on the basis of a per-patient or per-pathway “RTT clock stop” rate (or any other unit rate); and if he will make a statement.
NHS England has provided funding to increase validation of waiting lists in 2025/26, as part of the Government's plans for a more productive and improved approach to elective care which is better for patients. A £33 fee is provided for each additional referral to treatment clock stop per patient pathway above a provider’s agreed baseline.
Validation is a clinically supported process and forms a long-standing part of trusts’ routine management of their waiting lists. National guidance from NHS England provides further information about the validation process and is available at the following link: