Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of community hospitals with (a) in-patient wards and (b) other integrated healthcare facilities on healthcare provision in rural areas.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for arranging healthcare services that meet the needs of their population, including those provided for by community hospitals in rural areas. ICBs are best placed to use local autonomy to determine the needs of their respective populations and how best to address them.

As part of the Government’s five missions, the Department will launch a 10-year plan for change and modernisation, to make the National Health Service fit for the future. The plan will set out a bold agenda to deliver on the three big shifts needed to move healthcare from hospital to the community, analogue to digital, sickness to prevention.