I would be the first to accept that there are challenges in the national health service, which are a consequence—none of us can deny this—of the pressures that now apply to it as a consequence of the Covid pandemic. As every other health system in the western world is doing, our health service is still wrestling with the challenges that come from that period.

What I can say to Mr Sarwar is that the latest figures show that there has been a 9.9 per cent increase in in-patient and day-case activity year on year and a 2.7 per cent increase in out-patient activity. In relation to planned care, there has been an increase in capacity as a consequence of the introduction of the national treatment centres, as a result of which 20,000 additional surgeries and a range of different interventions are being undertaken. On cancer treatment, which Mr Sarwar mentioned, we are treating more patients with cancer on time within the 62-day standard—3 per cent more compared with the same quarter a year ago, and 12.8 per cent more compared with the position 10 years ago.

That is a story of the national health service—and our committed staff the length and breadth of the country—doing everything that they can to ensure that we meet the needs of individuals in very difficult and challenging circumstances. That will remain the focus of the Government.