Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of outpatient activity was delivered outside hospital settings in Essex in the most recent period for which data is available.

The Department does not centrally hold data on outpatient activity delivered outside hospital settings in Essex.

Approximately 80% of the waiting list is made up of people waiting for outpatient appointments. Modernisation of this important stage of planned care is a top priority for the Government. We have committed, in our Elective Reform Plan and 10-Year Health Plan, to modernise elective pathways to ensure that they are better for patients and more productive. This radical plan will end outpatient care as we know it by 2035.

Face-to-face hospital appointments will become the exception, as two thirds of outpatient appointments will be replaced by digital advice, direct input from specialists, and patient-initiated follow ups as we introduce a new digital front door to the National Health Service via the NHS App by 2035, which is more responsive to patients’ needs. Patients will still have a choice in where they get their care.

We will deliver this vision with a new model for planned care that is digital by default and local where possible, providing rapid access to patient-centred services.