Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce NHS dermatology waiting lists.

Cutting waiting lists is a key priority for the Government. The Department is committed to ensuring that the proportion of patients waiting no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment, including for dermatology services, returns to 92% by March 2029, and to 65% by March 2026.

NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme is working to improve waiting times through its established Further Faster programme to transform patient pathways and improve access and waiting times for patients. Dermatology is one of 24 specialties in focus for GIRFT’s Further Faster work.

A Further Faster handbook for dermatology has been produced to share best practice, and the GIRFT team is carrying out regular visits to, and meetings with, challenged departments in order to provide support in improving performance across dermatology.