Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to reduce elective backlogs in child health services.

NHS England continues to action the Delivery Plan for Tackling the COVID-19 Backlog of Elective Care, aiming to reduce the number of patients waiting over a year for treatment, including for child health services.

The Department and the National Health Service are committed to ensuring that babies, children, and young people are prioritised in integrated care systems, and that reforms in the Health and Care Act 2022 aiming to improve child health and wellbeing outcomes are delivered on the ground.

To join up work, NHS England has established a National Children and Young People Elective Recovery Delivery Group, bringing together the national Elective Recovery Programme, the Children and Young People’s Transformation Programme and other stakeholders. The group to accelerate progress and ensure the recovery of paediatric services keeps pace with recovery of adult elective care.