Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the barriers to reducing endoscopy waiting lists in the NHS Kent and Medway integrated care system.

£2.3 billion was awarded at the 2021 Spending Review 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) up to 160 by March 2025, including a number delivering endoscopy services.

In 2022/23, Kent and Medway Integrated Care System spent a total of £92,251,788 on all diagnostic services collected on DM01. DM01 includes the 15 key diagnostic tests and procedures. Of this, £51,185,316 (55.5%) was spent on diagnostic endoscopy procedures.

Cutting National Health Service waiting lists, including for endoscopy services, is one of the Government’s top priorities. This is a shared ambition amongst integrated care systems (ICSs), including Kent and Medway ICS. Priorities are set locally through joint strategic needs assessments as part of joint forward plans across the ICS and partnering NHS trusts.

NHS Kent & Medway ICS is actively working with providers across Kent & Medway, including Ashford, to support waiting list reduction through waiting list validation, providing additional capacity and the redesign of patient pathways. This includes endoscopy procedures.

The Government has not made a recent assessment of the barriers to reducing endoscopy waiting lists in the NHS Kent and Medway integrated care system. It is the responsibility of individual ICSs to work with NHS England to understand local barriers to delivering the required diagnostics services, including endoscopy, and to implement appropriate waiting list solutions based on local need.