Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has had with his European counterparts on the procurement of proton therapy machines.

The procurement of proton beam therapy machines has been conducted jointly between The Christie NHS Foundation Trust and University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, with Ministerial oversight and final approval. This has been done in accordance with European Union procurement law. Throughout the procurement, reference has been made to European developments as a comparator in planning the new service. There have been no discussions between the Secretary of State for Health and his European counterparts.