Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the (a) quality and (b) availability of stoma care services.

The Government is committed to ensuring patients across the United Kingdom have access to high quality care, including those who need stoma surgery. As set out in the Plan for Change, we are committed to returning to the National Health Service constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment by March 2029.

No recent assessment has been made about the quality and availability of stoma care services. Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning and assessing the quality and availability of stoma care services at a regional level and in accordance with their local populations’ health needs.