Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish any (a) impact and (b) risk assessments his Department has carried out on the proposed pathology network for South East London NHS Trusts and Foundation Trusts.

The South East London pathology network will reduce costs and boost quality of pathology service provision through collaboration and networking. This is part of a national strategy to network all National Health Service pathology services in England, due to the significant benefits identified in the 2016 Carter review.

All trusts involved in pathology network creation will need to submit clear business cases to support any proposed changes. NHS Improvement and the Department will review these cases with subject matter experts, to ensure changes will be of benefit to the NHS and deliver the services that patients expect and need. These business cases will contain commercially sensitive information and so will not be made public.