Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients are waiting for NHS Tier 3 and Tier 4 Weight Management Services; and what the average wait time is for those services.

NHS England and NHS Improvement does not routinely collect or publish data on the number of patients waiting for Tier 3 or 4 services or their average wait times; however, NHS England and NHS Improvement has sought data on this, which is currently being finalised.

The pandemic has delayed access to Tier 4 services, as with other elective surgeries, due to service providers being redeployed to support the COVID-19 response. NHS England and NHS Improvement has worked with Integrated Care Systems to develop regional recovery plans for Tier 3 and Tier 4 specialist weight management services. Funding has been provided to systems to support the implementation of these plans.