Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of people likely to die during 2020 as a result of interruption to normal medical services, in particular (1) the failure to carry out cancer assessments or treatment, (2) individuals suffering stroke but not receiving timely treatment, and (3) individuals not receiving treatment for heart disease in normal timescales.

In England, there have been no estimates made of this kind. The Government cannot comment for Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland as this is a devolved matter.

The long-term consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on service provision and outcomes will be widespread and complex to identify and evaluate.

Critical care services, including for heart disease and stroke, as well as urgent and essential cancer treatments have remained open and continued throughout the pandemic, and have not been interrupted. The data show that the timeliness and quality of care have been broadly equivalent to, or better than, pre-COVID-19.