Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what account was taken of the financial costs and workforce implications of maintaining high-risk general surgery at University Hospital South Manchester to support the provision of tertiary services for the purposes of the Decision Making Business Case under the Healthier Together programme; and whether those factors were included in the financial modelling for options 4.3 and 4.4 of that programme.

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.