Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy that clinical commissioning groups must undertake a public consultation when decommissioning health and support services.

Principles for service change are enshrined in the four reconfiguration tests which state that all local reconfiguration plans should demonstrate: support from commissioners, strong public and patient engagement, clear clinical evidence base and support for patient choice.

There are some circumstances where service change must be undertaken quickly and without public consultation, such as temporary closures on the grounds of patient safety.