Colonoscopy: Waiting Lists
(asked on 4th November 2024) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people were on waiting lists for colonoscopies in each year between 2020 and 2024 by trust.
A table showing the number of people on a waiting list for a colonoscopy each year between 2020 and 2024, broken down by acute National Health Service trust, is attached. Monthly activity and waiting list data for diagnostics is published monthly, and is available at the following link:
Validated data collections on the breakdown of insourced and outsourced activity by NHS trusts, including for individual procedures such as a colonoscopy, are not maintained at a national level, so we do not hold information on how much was spent to outsource or insource additional resources to manage colonoscopy procedures in each of the last five years, by trust.
The Government is committed to transforming diagnostic services, including for colonoscopies, and will support the NHS to increase capacity to meet the demand for these services.
The NHS is delivering on a number of specific steps to reduce waiting times for gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy services, including colonoscopy procedures. This includes the establishment of a national transformation project to recover GI endoscopy services, investment in an additional 80 dedicated endoscopy rooms to expand capacity, as well as a number of Community Diagnostic Centres offering endoscopy services.
NHS England has also established GI endoscopy networks across the country. Whilst many are still in their infancy, one of the key functions of these networks is to address unwarranted variation in timely access to care. GI endoscopy training academies have also been established in each region to enable the training and education of the required workforce.
At the 2024 Autumn Budget, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced £1.5 billion of capital funding for new surgical hubs and diagnostic scanners. This will build capacity for over 30,000 additional procedures and over 1.25 million diagnostic tests, as well as new beds which will create more treatment space in emergency departments, reduce waiting times, and help shift more care into the community.