Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the capacity among (a) orthopaedic surgeons and (b) anaesthetists to catch up on delayed joint replacement surgeries for people who have had their surgery delayed as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.

No central assessment has been made. As part of the 2021/22 priorities and operational planning guidance, NHS England has set out the importance of looking after staff and helping them recover.

National Health Service systems have been asked to rapidly draw up delivery plans for elective recovery that maximise available physical and workforce capacity across their system including the independent sector.