Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of removing hyperbaric oxygen therapy services from the North East on (a) Levels of patient safety and (b) treatment outcomes.

NHS England has not decided to remove hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) services in the North East.

Due to current contract terms expiring, NHS England conducted a re-procurement of the service in line with Provider Selection Regime regulations. NHS England was only able to award contracts that met the quality requirements of the tender. The Intention to Award Notice, issued on 14 May 2025, confirmed that NHS England was only able to award three of the six available lots. For those lots where no preferred provider was identified, including the North-East, a further procurement exercise will take place. Interim contract arrangements will be put in place in these areas to ensure continued service provision in line with the commissioning intentions of equitably accessible, high-quality care for any patient who requires HBOT. The intention to award notice is available at the following link:

https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/021325-2025?origin=SearchResults&p=1

The geographical scope of the six services will ensure that there are no more than four hours travelling time by road from coastal locations, from the furthest borders, or between neighbouring commissioned HBOT centres, which is in line with the optimal time to treatment set out in good practice guidelines. Further information on the configuration of service modelling can be found in the published public consultation documents, available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/reviewing-hyperbaric-oxygen-services-consultation-guide/

The published Equality and Health Inequalities Impact Assessment, which sets out the evaluation of the impact of the changes on access to services, is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/2.1-Hyperbaric-oxygen-therapy-equality-and-health-inequalities-impact-assessment.pdf