Reducing waiting lists is a key part of the Government’s Health Mission, and we are committed to putting patients first, ensuring that they are seen on time and that they have the best possible experience of care.

We set a national ambition that by March 2026, 65% of patients would wait no longer than 18 weeks. Thanks to our record investment, modernisation, and the remarkable efforts of National Health Service staff across the country, we have met this ambition, meaning patients are getting treated faster, getting back to work, and no longer waiting in pain or uncertainty.

For urology services in England, the urology waiting list in England has fallen by almost 37,000 since the Government entered office, to 377,265 in March 2026. Over this same period, performance against the 18-week standard has improved by 9.3%, from 57% to 66.3%.

Urology services across the East Midlands have also seen improvements in performance. All three integrated care boards (ICBs) in the East Midlands were performing better than the Midlands average, at 65.1%, against the 18-week standard as of the end of March 2026. The following table shows 18 week performance across the East Midland ICBs in June 2024 and March 2026:

Source: Consultant-led Referral to Treatment Waiting Times Data 2025-26, available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/rtt-waiting-times/rtt-data-2025-26/
Note: the above table excludes missing estimates for non-reporting trusts.

The NHS Derby and Derbyshire ICB, the NHS Lincolnshire ICB, and the NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB have implemented a comprehensive programme of actions to reduce urology waiting times, including increased surgical and outpatient capacity, expanded diagnostic provision, pathway redesign, workforce growth, and strengthened cross system coordination. These measures are already improving patient flow and are expected to continue reducing waiting lists and waiting times over the coming months.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published guidelines for the referral of patients who present with recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs), which is available at the following link:

https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/urinary-tract-infection-lower-women/management/recurrent-uti-no-haematuria-not-pregnant-or-catheterized/

There are specific referral criteria for women, compared to men and children. There are also guidelines in place for those who present to Pharmacy First. If the patient has had a history of UTIs, they are asked to see their general practice (GP) surgery, rather than being prescribed antibiotics by the pharmacy.

Patients with recurrent UTIs should be referred to secondary care to exclude other causes, perhaps through an ultrasound scan or a cystoscopy. Once cleared, patients may be prescribed prophylactic antibiotics.

The number of lower urinary tract symptom service clinics are locally managed and commissioned by integrated care boards, in accordance with local population need.

While there are no current plans to train GPs and urologists on recognising the symptoms of chronic UTIs, NHS England’s UTI reduction workstream was established as part of the delivery of the UK 5-year action plan for antimicrobial resistance 2019 to 2024. This workstream aims to enhance prevention, support early and accurate diagnosis, and improve the treatment of UTIs through identifying and adopting best practice, and through interventions for different population groups.

NHS England has also been working with other public bodies, including the UK Health Security Agency, to strengthen the guidance regarding the appropriate use of diagnostics, including dipsticks. GPs can request testing for chronic UTIs via several pathways, including at point-of-care, via community diagnostic centres, or via laboratories. Laboratories across England adhere to stringent quality standards, including the UK Accreditation Standard ISO 15189, and implement robust internal and external quality assurance schemes, ensuring the accuracy of the tests used.

NHS England published the Excellence in Continence Care on 23 July 2018, bringing together evidence-based resources and research for guidance for commissioners, providers, and health and social care staff, and which is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/excellence-in-continence-care/

In addition, the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence has produced guidance on the management of faecal incontinence in adults, which healthcare professionals and commissioners are expected to take fully into account when delivering services for people with bowel incontinence.

The Department has a number of existing partnerships to help promote awareness of urology conditions. NHS England is partnering with P-Wave on a campaign targeted at men, specifically focussing on blood in urine as a possible symptom of cancer. The partnership has seen more than 430,000 P-Wave urinal mats distributed around the United Kingdom since its launch, with the awareness message appearing in pubs, workplaces, and sporting and music venues. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.p-wave.co.uk/pages/nhs-partnership?srsltid=AfmBOooUskgp-sQbOb1cEBiXn8eYh73_kU1LJ5jDABF2ZTBvL2nC8WWr

NHS England is also partnering with major supermarkets to increase awareness of various health conditions, including urological conditions, via messaging on products like toilet paper. There is a specific focus on lower cost products reaching members of the public from lower socio-economic groups, supporting the National Health Service drive to reduce health inequalities.

The following table shows how much NHS England spent on fees and other costs for work by Niche Health and Social Care Consulting, in relation to urology services at the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMB), in 2019/20, 2020/21, and 2021/22:

The following table shows the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) consultant urologists working in National Health Service trusts and core organisations within Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, NHS Cheshire and Merseyside, and England, as of August 2023:

Source: NHS Digital Hospital and Community Health Service Workforce Statistics

Notes:

1. The information is based on the monthly National Health Service (NHS) workforce statistics published by NHS England.
2. The data includes staff employed by NHS trusts and other core NHS organisations. It excludes staff directly employed general practitioner surgeries, local authorities, and other providers such as community interest companies and private providers.

We currently have no such plans. NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) Programme has fulfilled an important function in terms of providing oversight of the quality and safety of urology services in England. The GIRFT programme delivered an in-depth review of every English provider and urology network in England and provided individual recommendations and recommendations at a network level.

No assessment has been made of the implementation of NHS England guidance on Excellence in Continence Care published in June 2018. The Department does not intend to encourage NHS England to appoint a specific National Clinical Director for urological conditions and continence services. The decision to create such a role would be a matter for NHS England.

NHS England National Clinical Directors and National Specialty Advisers are practicing clinicians from across England, providing clinical leadership, advice, input and support across distinct areas of conditions in the National Health Service including those for urological conditions and continence services. NHS England also funds Getting It Right First Time, a national programme designed to improve the treatment and care of patients through in-depth review of services, benchmarking, and presenting a data-driven evidence base to support change.

The Department has not indicated to NHS England that that urological conditions and continence services should be afforded a higher priority in the future planning of services

Integrated care boards are responsible for the commissioning of health services in their local health economy. NHS England's Excellence in Continence Care guidance, published in July 2018), promotes equal access to services and treatment for all.

The Department has provided £325m to support the National Health Service to roll out 40 Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs) across England this year. The centres will start providing services over the next 6 months, with the aim to be fully operational by March 2022. Some centres have already been set up as Early Adopters, providing services to their local community. A further £2.3bn to support the roll out of a further 60 CDCs by 2024/2025 was announced at the 2021 Spending Review.

CDCs will offer some urology diagnostics, including urine testing and urodynamics, but the level of urology services provided will be decided locally based on population need. This will determine how much of the outpatient urology workload can move into CDCs.

The National Health Service is planning to establish 40 community diagnostic centres (CDCs) across England this year. Centres will begin to provide services over the next six months, with all being fully operational by March 2022.

Regions are working with local trusts and systems, diagnostic networks and primary care services to determine the location and configuration of services, based on the needs of the local population. These services will take on appropriate urological outpatient workload, including urine testing, with some CDCs potentially offering additional services, such as urodynamics.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 18 October 2021 to Question PQ53330.

A standard competency framework for clinical nurse specialists in the field of kidney cancer is currently under development and being piloted in the National Health Service in the North West of England. The framework is being developed with input from a range of stakeholders including cancer nurse specialists. The findings will further inform the development of the national competency framework which is due to be launched across the NHS in England in 2022/23.

The National Health Service Electronic Staff Record does not enable the identification of cancer nurse specialists.

Specialist clinical nursing workforce working in kidney cancer is a post registration qualification and it is the responsibility of individual employers to ensure they have the staff available to provide clinical services.

The Spending Review 2020 provides £260 million to continue to grow our National Health Service workforce and support commitments made in the NHS Long Term Plan, including continuing to take forward the Cancer Workforce Plan Phase One commitment to expand education and training to increase the number of Clinical Nurse Specialists and develop common and consistent competencies, including for urological cancers.

Full details on funding allocations towards NHS workforce budgets, including Health Education England, in 2021-22 will be published in due course.

The Department does not hold information on the number of clinical nurse specialists who specialise in urology and prostate cancer who plan to retire in the next 12 months. No audit has been undertaken an audit of the clinical nurse specialist workforce for either urology or prostate cancer.

We are working with NHS England and NHS Improvement, Health Education England and employers to determine our future workforce and people priorities which will inform the NHS People Plan and future workforce planning requirements in key areas such as cancer. In 2021/22 Health Education England is offering training grants for up to 250 nurses to become cancer nurse specialists and up to 100 nurses to become chemotherapy nurse specialists.

The Department does not hold information on the number of clinical nurse specialists who specialise in urology and prostate cancer who plan to retire in the next 12 months. No audit has been undertaken an audit of the clinical nurse specialist workforce for either urology or prostate cancer.

We are working with NHS England and NHS Improvement, Health Education England and employers to determine our future workforce and people priorities which will inform the NHS People Plan and future workforce planning requirements in key areas such as cancer. In 2021/22 Health Education England is offering training grants for up to 250 nurses to become cancer nurse specialists and up to 100 nurses to become chemotherapy nurse specialists.

Specialist clinical nursing workforce working in urology and prostate cancer is a post-registration qualification and it is the responsibility of individual employers to ensure they have the staff available to provide clinical services.

The Spending Review 2020 provides £260 million to continue to increase the National Health Service workforce and support commitments made in the NHS Long Term Plan, including continuing to take forward the Cancer Workforce Plan - Phase One commitment to expand education and training to increase the number of clinical nurse specialists and develop common and consistent competencies.

The Department does not hold the data requested.