Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the potential impact of hospital facilities staff strikes on patient wellbeing.

No assessment has been made. This is a local issue, managed by National Health Service trusts, who work hard to mitigate the impact of any strike action on patients.

In cases where NHS trusts are considering external suppliers to deliver facilities management services, the Government expects that any such outsourced services are delivered by the trust in a way that improves quality, ensures greater stability and longer-term investment in the workforce, and delivers better value for money, as part of the broader commitments on procurement set out in the Government’s Make Work Pay programme.