Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to waive all fines and charges for hospital trusts as those trusts deal with patient backlogs in the NHS.

National Health Service hospital trusts have been asked to prioritise elective recovery, to deal with patient backlogs. While no formal decision has been made on policy regarding fines and charges, a pragmatic approach will continue to be taken to ensure that patients get the treatment they need.