Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what provision his Department plans to make under the Healthier Together reforms for patients in the North West of England with severe and complex cardiac disease who need tertiary cardiorespiratory services.
The Government is clear the reconfiguration of front line health services is a matter for the local National Health Service.
Principles for service change are enshrined in the four reconfiguration tests set down to the NHS in 2010. All local reconfiguration plans should demonstrate: support from GP commissioners; strengthened public and patient engagements; clarity on the clinical evidence base; and support for patient choice.