Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to reduce waiting times for the (a) diagnosis and (b) treatment of people with pulmonary fibrosis.

Cutting National Health Service waiting lists, including for the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary fibrosis, is one of this Government’s top priorities.

£2.3 billion was awarded at SR21 to transform diagnostic services over the next three years to increase diagnostic capacity, including for endoscopy services. This funding will also increase the number of Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs). There are 130 CDCs currently operational (as of November 2023) and the CDC programme has delivered over five million tests since reporting in July 2021. The Government has also confirmed it is now on track to meet its target to open up to 160 CDCs by March 2025, and expects to achieve this a year early in March 2024.

Thanks to the incredible work of NHS staff, official NHS England statistics show that in September 2023 the total number of patients waiting more than 78 weeks was 10,196, a reduction of just under 92% from the peak of September 2021.