Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what urgent steps his Department is taking to reschedule planned surgeries that were cancelled during October and November 2021 as a result of shortages of beds and staff.

The National Health Service continues to prioritise those patients with the highest clinical need alongside those who have been waiting the longest. Where cancellations have been unavoidable, all efforts are being made to rebook patients who have been affected as soon as possible.