Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Referral to Treatment (RTT) Waiting Times: Monthly Referral to Treatment (RTT) waiting times for incomplete pathways, between January 2017 and January 2018, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the decline in the number of Clinical Commissioning Groups meeting the 18-week RTT for ophthalmology.

The Government’s mandate to NHS England for 2018-19 continues to set NHS England an objective to maintain and improve performance against core patient access standards. This includes a clear expectation that the statutory referral to treatment standard should be met.

Progress has been made during 2018/19. At the end of September 58% of hospital eye services are in the process of implementing this work, and 89% of clinical commissioning groups have commenced eye health capacity reviews. Both actions require completion by 31 March 2019.