Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to Answer of 13 June 2025 to Question 58291 on Tomography: Waiting Lists, whether his Department has set a target date by which all patients referred for diagnostic scans in North Shropshire will be seen within six weeks.

The 2025/26 operational planning guidance set out, in line with our Elective Reform Plan, the ambitions for National Health Service providers to deliver 65% RTT performance with a minimum improvement of 5% from 2024/25. We are clear that improvements in diagnostic performance will be critical in enabling systems to meet this ambition.

While there is no formal target date set out for when all patients will be seen within six weeks of a referral, the Government is clear through expectations in operational planning guidance on 18-week performance and on time to first outpatient appointment that providers must prioritise diagnosing, seeing, and treating patients sooner. A rigorous performance management process has been put in place to support and monitor this.

Providers are being supported to improve their diagnostic performance through capital investment in new capacity and productivity generating digital approaches. Scaling best practice and peer support is also being utilised to improve performance and optimise demand.

The Plan for Change commitment is backed by £6 billion of additional capital investment over five years for diagnostic, elective and urgent and emergency care. This will support making progress on the return to the 18-week standard by the end of the Parliament and protecting capacity in emergency departments.