Radiology
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of regional variation in access to 24/7 interventional radiology services in England.
Answered by Karin Smyth
The Elective Reform Plan, which was published in January 2025, committed to increasing surgical and diagnostic capacity for services such as interventional radiology. This is a step towards returning to the National Health Service constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment.
As a result of spending reviews in 2021 and 2025, diagnostic interventional radiology received capital funding for four interventional radiology suites.
The Government has also committed £2.3 billion across diagnostics for the next three financial years. Trusts and regions are currently going through a competitive bidding process for this diagnostic funding, which is expected to conclude in spring 2026.
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