Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance his Department provides for people on their options for accessing safe and reliable treatments which are not offered through the NHS.

The decision to be treated privately outside the National Health Service is one for individuals and their clinicians to make, in accordance with the relevant professional and regulatory requirements.

Guidance on NHS patients who wish to pay for additional private care was issued in 2009 and is available at:

www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/404423/patients-add-priv-care.pdf