Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of potential changes to NHS expenditure resulting from the new capped expenditure process arising from (a) limiting the number of operations carried out by non-NHS providers, (b) drawing out waiting times for planned care, (c) stopping NHS funding for some treatments, (d) closing wards and theatres and reducing staffing, (e) closing or downgrading services, including emergency or maternity units, (f) selling estate and other property-related transactions and (g) stopping prescriptions for some items.

The National Health Service is required to meet its operational standards as set out in the mandate and ensure access to appropriate care for all, in line with the NHS constitution. It is right that the NHS should consider efficiency savings such as reducing delayed transfers of care, reducing running costs, or reviewing treatments that are of low clinical effectiveness – because this improves patient care overall.