Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what representations he has received on the decision of the Vale of York Clinical Commissioning Group's policy to postpone surgery for patients who smoke or have a BMI over 30.

It is for individual clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to make commissioning decisions based on the needs of patients in their area, and interact with stakeholders regarding those decisions.

This does not and cannot mean blanket bans on particular patients, such as smokers, getting operations, which would be inconsistent with the NHS Constitution. However, major surgery poses much higher risks for severely overweight patients who smoke. So local general practitioner-led CCGs are entirely right to ensure these patients first get support to lose weight and try to stop smoking before their operation. Reducing obesity and cutting smoking is of long-term benefit to patient health.