Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to improve the (a) diagnosis time and (b) access to care for people suffering from (i) Crohn’s disease and (ii) colitis.

Cutting waiting lists is one of the Government’s top priorities. We are making progress on tackling the longest waits, to ensure patients get the care they need when they need it. Diagnostic checks are a key part of many elective care pathways, and our ambition is that by March 2025, 95% of patients needing a diagnostic check receive it within six weeks. We are working together with NHS England to increase diagnostic capacity as quickly as possible, including for patients with suspected Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, through the continued rollout of community diagnostic centres (CDCs).

As of January 2024, there are 153 CDCs currently operational that have delivered over six million additional tests since July 2021. In addition, the Getting it Right First Time programme has launched a set of Further, Faster pilots to support groups of trusts to accelerate progress on outpatient transformation across a range of specialties, to reduce unnecessary appointments and improve access and waiting times for patients. The pilots are driving forward interventions within gastroenterology, for instance with the introduction of Patient Initiated Follow Up, which can be beneficial for patients with chronic conditions like Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.