Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps with NHS England to ensure that hip and knee surgery for people with arthritis is a protected part of the forthcoming delivery plan for tackling the elective backlog.

As announced in September, an additional £1 billion has been provided this year as part of the Elective Recovery Fund, which can be accessed by local trusts if they meet the eligibility criteria to tackle the backlog. A further £8 billion was announced to transform elective services and increase activity across the following three years. The Department has also committed to £5.9 billion of capital funding to further support National Health Service in reducing the backlog of people waiting for procedures, tests and scans, including £1.5 billion for increased bed capacity, equipment and new surgical hubs.

The NHS is improving the efficiency of joint replacement surgery, using lessons learned from the high-volume low acuity approach piloted in London and developed by the Getting It Right First Time programme to streamline processes and utilise surgical hubs. NHS England and NHS Improvement continue to work with Versus Arthritis and are evaluating patient support and developing regional and system strategies focused on those waiting for elective surgery and their health and wellbeing.