Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the abolition of NHS England on local clinical services.

Following the announcement that NHS England will be abolished as an arm’s length body and replaced by a new Department of Health and Social Care, a transformation programme has been launched, led by Richard Barker as Senior Responsible Officer.

It is only right that with such significant reform, we commit to carefully assessing and understanding the potential impacts, as is due process. Evidence from these ongoing assessments will inform our programme as appropriate.

The new Department will operate in a leaner, more agile and more efficient way and empower staff at all levels of the health system, including local clinical systems, to deliver better care for patients, drive productivity up and get waiting times down. This change will set local National Health Service providers free to innovate, develop new productive ways of working, and focus on what matters most.

The Government is committed to transparency and will consider how best to ensure the public and parliamentarians are informed of the outcomes.