Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the largest financial contracts between the NHS and private companies were in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

The Department does not hold this information, as it is not collated centrally. It is for individual clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to take decisions on which providers, including those from the private sector, are awarded contracts for the provision of NHS services for their respective regions.

For information on individual contracts held by individual National Health Service bodies, such as NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts, the Hon. Member may wish to contact any relevant NHS authority directly. Independent providers, both for-profit and not-for-profit have long, and through successive governments, provided care to NHS patients. Our position on who should provide services is taken to ensure patients receive the best possible services and outcomes. These decisions are taken by the local clinicians, who are best placed to act for the benefit of their patients.