Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the future role, governance, and hosting of specialised commissioning Clinical Reference Groups following the planned abolition and restructuring of NHS England; and what steps she is taking to ensure that expert clinical guidance and patient voice representation for rare autoimmune rheumatic diseases are retained at a national level.

On the future of clinical reference groups, I refer the Rt. Hon. Member to the answer provided on 24 August in response to Question HL1992. Details regarding specific groups, or individuals in national specialty or clinical lead roles, will be set out in due course.