Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what the membership of the Robotic Assisted Surgery Steering Committee is; what the committee's terms of reference are; and when the committee expects to set specific targets for the pace and scale of adoption across the NHS.

The Robotic Assisted Surgery (RAS) Steering Committee has cross-government representation from the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England, the Office for Life Sciences, NHS Supply Chain, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and clinical leads from a range of National Health Service provider trusts. The terms of reference are actively being redrafted to reflect the increased scope of the committee's work.

Decisions on the procurement of RAS are made locally by NHS trusts and integrated care boards, in line with local need and national guidance. The steering committee is developing plans to drive the pace and scale of adoption in line with commitments to expand RAS over the next decade as set out in the 10‑Year Health Plan. A baseline assessment is being undertaken to understand the current provision of RAS and the increase in activity needed to begin to close the gaps. NHS England has funding in place for a national robotic surgery registry, which, once established will provide near real-time data on this aspect.