Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, (a) how many referrals via Advice and Guidance have been rejected each month since July 2024 (b) how many of these were later successfully referred.

Advice and Guidance (A&G) does not reject referrals. A&G allows general practitioners (GPs) to receive advice from specialists without the need for a referral, ensuring that patients get the right care in the right place, first time. A GP’s clinical decision to refer remains unchanged.

Monthly data on the number of processed advice and guidance requests, including the number of diverted requests, is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/outpatient-transformation/specialist-advice/

The Department does not hold data on the number of referrals that were not added to the waiting list but subsequently later successfully referred.