Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his Department's policy is on prioritising elective surgery and appointments for children on waiting lists.

Cutting National Health Service waiting lists is one of the Government’s top priorities. The NHS triages patients waiting for elective care, including children waiting for surgeries and appointments. The NHS continues to work hard to deliver the maximum amount of elective activity possible, with the clinically most urgent patients continuing to be treated first, and priority then given to the longest waiting patients. These considerations are critical in improving overall health outcomes, underpinned by new investment and new technology.