Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress NHS England has made on developing a mechanism to track, monitor and evaluate independent sector’s impact on the long-term NHS capacity landscape in accordance with the Elective Recovery Taskforce implementation plan.

NHS England is working closely with the Independent Healthcare Providers Network and the wider sector to ensure we have appropriate mechanisms to track and monitor the independent sector’s impact on the long-term National Health Service capacity landscape. From October 2024, NHS England will be reporting independent sector activity data based on the Secondary Uses Service data submissions, to which a large number of independent sector provider sites currently report. This will therefore enable us to more fully capture the sector’s activity.

NHS England continues to explore opportunities for the independent sector to support the NHS in the areas of greatest need, including in diagnostics and the most challenged specialties, while ensuring that NHS care remains free at the point of use. NHS England meets regularly with all independent sector providers to encourage this collaborative working.