Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will publish any and all changes made to guidance on practice, recording or statistical methodology since 4th July 2024 that may affect waiting times time series data comparability over time, along with any estimate she has made of the impact of each such change on the data.

The monthly data published by NHS England on waiting times and other performance metrics are accredited as official statistics. Any material changes in the methodology used to produce them must be made and announced in line with the guidance set out by the Office for Statistics Regulation. Information on methodological changes is published alongside the relevant statistical releases where appropriate. Further information is available at the following link:

https://osr.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/guidance/guidance-for-producers-when-making-changes-to-statistical-methods/pages/2/