Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust's planned timetable is for the (a) commencement and (b) publication of its health needs review.

The national review and the local needs assessment processes will help in setting out ideas on how services could be developed. The trust and the integrated care board (ICB) are keen that any proposals for future service development are co-designed through meaningful engagement.

The maternity health needs assessment at the Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is under way, led by the NHS Gloucestershire ICB. The needs assessment involves a review of nationally available data and trends, and the evidence base for what works in terms of quality and safety. NHS England is aligning its maternity needs assessment with national priorities to improve outcomes and experiences, particularly by tackling health inequalities.

As part of the maternity needs assessment, NHS England is gathering insights from women and staff, asking about their experiences and their ideas for how services could be developed in the future.

NHS England is in the process of agreeing a timeline for approval of the needs assessment, with final publication expected in Spring 2026.

No plan to reopen the Aveta Birth Centre will be made until the outcome of the Government's Independent National Maternity Investigation, and the local Health Needs Assessment, led by the NHS Gloucestershire ICB and exploring the needs and changes in maternity care for Gloucestershire, are published. These are both due to report in Spring 2026.