16
Accepted
Department confirmed significant funding and operational numbers for diagnostic and surgical centres.
Conclusion
The Department wrote to us on 10 September 2025 to confirm that it has drawn down £2.2 billion of capital funding for diagnostic transformation and £1.04 billion for surgical hubs. It also confirmed that 122 surgical hubs were operational in England.32 The Department had previously written to tell us that 169 Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs) were active, with one further CDC that had been active but was temporarily offline while it moved to a permanent location. Of those 170, 98 CDCs were reported by the Department as operating 12 hours a day, seven days a week.33
Government Response Summary
The government agreed with the committee's finding and committed that, from January 2026, the Diagnostic and Elective capital boards will merge to form a single Planned Care Capital Assurance Board to consolidate and monitor the delivery of capital projects.
Government Response
Accepted
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
3.9 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target Implementation date: January 2026 3.10 DHSC and NHSE wish to note the importance of also reporting on the delivery of physical capital assets. There are several capital elements to planned care: an electives programme and a cancer and diagnostics programme. 3.11 Currently the National Diagnostic Board and the groups feeding into it play an important assurance role in the delivery of diagnostic capital projects and report on delivery milestones as well as their impact on performance targets and alignment with policy objectives. 3.12 The monthly Elective Capital Programme Board has an important assurance function in the oversight of elective capital projects. This receives and scrutinises monthly reports on scheme completions, planned vs actual additional activity enabled from completed schemes and receipt of scheme post project evaluations. 3.13 Additionally, the monthly Elective Hubs Oversight Group receives performance reports for all surgical hubs, including on capped theatre utilisation (a measure of theatre productivity). It also receives reports from the national GIRFT hubs accreditation programme. 3.14 A National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Policy Research Programme evaluation of 2022-2025 Targeted Investment Fund schemes that are non-hubs will start in January 2026 and report in 2028. 3.15 From January 2026, the Diagnostic and Elective capital boards will merge to form a single Planned Care Capital Assurance Board, which will also monitor the delivery of capital projects which support cancer. This will consolidate existing work done within programmes to monitor outcomes and benefits and to report on the achievement of policy aims.
Source
Committee
Public Accounts Committee
Report
55th Report - Reducing NHS waiting times for elective care
19 Nov 2025
HC 820
Addressee Bodies
HM Treasury
Timeline
Recommendation age
0.7 yr
Report published
19 Nov 2025