Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) clinical commissioning groups and (b) integrated care systems that have (i) time limits, (ii) restrictions on balancing surgery, (iii) limits on the number of procedures and (iv) other local restrictions on breast reconstruction in place as of 14 June 2022.

Information on specific funding allocated for breast reconstruction services is not held in the format requested. However, to support the recovery of elective services, including breast reconstruction, we are providing more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25, in addition to the £2 billion Elective Recovery Fund and £700 million Targeted Investment Fund made available in 2021/22.

No estimate has been made of the number of clinical commissioning groups and integrated care systems where local restrictions may be in place. The NHS Cancer Programme has reiterated that no local time limits should be applied to reconstructive surgery, particularly where reconstructive surgery has been delayed due to the pandemic. Cancer Alliances have been asked to ensure that wherever possible surgery with immediate breast reconstruction takes place and to seek opportunities to accelerate reconstruction for those women who have not yet undergone the procedure following previous breast surgery during the pandemic.