Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the minutes of the Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospital Trust’s Board Meeting which took place on 3 May 2018, what contingency plans are in place in the event that The Hospital Company (Sandwell) (THC) goes into insolvency; when the latest weekly liaison between officials from his Department and THC took place; and what assessment has been made of the financial stability of THC in the latest weekly liaison between officials from his Department and THC.

I visited the Trust on Thursday 14 June to discuss and listen to the different concerns and issues involved in ensuring the new hospital can be completed as quickly as possible.

Officials from the Department of Health and Social Care are working closely on this matter with those from HM Treasury and the Infrastructure and Projects Authority and with relevant senior staff of the Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust to ensure that the hospital is completed as quickly as is possible. As is to be expected with a situation like this, meetings and discussions are taking place with representatives from The Hospital Company (Sandwell) on a very frequent basis. Detailed contingency plans are being agreed with the trust should The Hospital Company declare insolvency.