Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of surgical hubs on trends in waiting times for elective care.

Several external evaluations of the impact of Elective Surgical Hubs are currently ongoing, and supported by NHS England. The University of York is carrying out a comprehensive evaluation funded by the National Institute of Healthcare Research.

The Health Foundation’s Improvement Analytics Unit has also conducted a quantitative assessment of the impact of surgical hubs, with the results to be published later this month. The Health Foundation’s analysis will indicate the impact surgical hubs have had on the number of procedures undertaken and whether they have increased day-case rates and reduced lengths of stay, all of which supports elective recovery, and reductions in waiting times for elective care.