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 merits of making the NHS the preferred provider for commissioned healthcare services.

The Government’s ambition, as set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, is to increasingly put power into patients’ hands themselves so they can personalise their National Health Service care to their individual needs, choices, and preferences.

More broadly, the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023 provide a proportionate framework under which NHS commissioners consider the most appropriate approach in awarding contracts to healthcare providers. The Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023 are available at the following link:

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2023/1348/contents/made

Further information on the selection processes is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/how-commissioning-is-changing/nhs-provider-selection-regime/