Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve waiting times for gynaecological (i) consultant appointments and (ii) surgery.

Reducing waiting lists is a key part of the Government’s Health Mission, and we are committed to cutting waiting times across all specialities, including gynaecology. We have committed to return to the National Health Service constitutional standard, that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment, by March 2029. We are making good progress, as waiting lists have been cut by over 310,000 since the Government came into office, which includes almost 20,000 patients waiting for gynaecology treatment over the same period.

Our Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, set out the reforms we are making to improve gynaecology waiting times, across England. This includes innovative models of care that offer care closer to home and in the community, piloting gynaecology pathways in community diagnostic centres for patients with post-menopausal bleeding, and increasing the relative funding available to incentivise providers to take on more gynaecology procedures. It also includes expanding the number of surgical hubs, which provide valuable and protected capacity across elective specialities, including gynaecology. Currently, over half of the 125 operational elective surgical hubs in England provide gynaecology services. Wider elective reforms will help cut waiting times for gynaecology services, including more consistent clinical triage, tackling missed appointments, and scaling up remote monitoring and use of patient-initiated follow ups. We are also introducing an “online hospital”, through NHS Online. From 2027, people on certain pathways, including severe menopause symptoms and menstrual problems that may be a sign of endometriosis or fibroids, will have the choice of getting the specialist care they need from their home, providing additional appointments to cut waiting times.