Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Request for direction on independent sector contracting from NHS England Chief Executive Officer to Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, published on 12 January 2022, what assessment he has made of the long-term impact on (a) staff availability to the NHS, (b) public trust and confidence in the NHS and (c) potential health inequalities linked to increased access to high-quality care of those with the means to pay for access to independent health services of the payments made to the independent health sector referred to in that letter.

The national contracts agreed between NHS England and independent sector providers are short-term measures aimed to support the National Health Service’s response to the spread of the Omicron variant until 31 March 2022. We do not believe these arrangements will have any significant long-term negative impact on staff availability to the NHS or potential health inequalities.

The arrangements provide additional surge capacity to prevent NHS services from being overwhelmed and to ensure the recovery of elective care can continue. The public can be confident that all those requiring emergency or urgent treatment can continue to receive it.