Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many NHS hospital pharmacies have had their dispensary services put out to tender to private companies since the coming into force of the Health and Social Care Act 2012; what the equivalent figure was prior to that date; how many such companies dispense or deliver medication to NHS (a) outpatients and (b) hospital inpatients; and what the total amount of VAT (i) reclaimed by all such companies since that date and (ii) paid by all the incumbent NHS hospital pharmacies whose services have not been put out to tender to private companies since that date was.

This information is not collected by either the Department or NHS England.

The decision to put hospital pharmacy services out to tender is a matter for individual trusts.