Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of referral services for patients with skin conditions; and whether he is taking steps to improve those services.

While the Department has not made any formal assessment of the adequacy of referral services, the Department continues to support the National Health Service to recover all elective services, including for patients with skin conditions. This includes providing funding and setting direction through the elective recovery delivery plan published last year.

Most adult and paediatric dermatology services are commissioned locally through integrated care boards. However, to support patients with more complex or severe conditions, NHS England directly commissions some specialised services for example specialised adult and child dermatology clinics.

A recent NHS guide on referral optimisation for people with skin conditions outlines how systems can implement specialist advice and guidance. The approach enables local systems to embed personalised care, strengthen the primary and secondary care interface, and streamline collaboration between generalists and specialists so that more patients can be treated closer to home.