Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what support NHS England is giving to the funding of robotic assisted surgical treatment for urology patients at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital; and if he will make a statement.

We understand that NHS England has advised the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust that it should not offer robotic assisted surgical treatment until there is clearer national evidence of the effectiveness of the technique. However as the Trust is the identified surgical centre for urological cancer, NHS England’s Local Area Team and the local clinical commissioning group are working with all of the acute providers covering Dorset to ensure that patients have choice for timely surgery from Royal Bournemouth & Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and other providers across Wessex and its environs.

We are advised that the potential service and financial implications of NHS England’s proposed national clinical commissioning policy for robotic assisted surgery and service specification will be considered in the prioritisation process later this year. Further information will be posted on NHS England Website under the Specialised Cancer Clinical Reference Group when available.