Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what efficiencies have been identified in the NHS in the last 12 months; and what relationship will there be between those efficiencies and the new Health and Social Care Levy.

The National Health Service has continued to implement programmes to improve efficiency, including surgical hubs which streamline processes to provide more operations per day; transformation of patient pathways; patient-initiated follow-ups which provide patients flexibility to arrange follow-ups as needed and avoiding unnecessary appointments; virtual appointments; and advice and guidance which enable clinicians to advise each other more quickly on test results and referral options. The Elective Recovery Accelerator programmes will also address NHS adoption of productivity improvements. These programmes will be supported by the new Health and Social Care Levy.