Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have  any further plans to use public deliberation methods in healthcare beyond the 10 Year Health Plan.

People and communities are at the heart of everything the Government and the National Health Service does. The Department’s and NHS England’s statutory guidance sets out how the health system at both a local and national level has a legal and ethical duty to involve the public in planning, proposals, and decisions regarding NHS services.

Public deliberations are one method that can be used to involve the public in decision making and are already in use, beyond the 10-Year Health Plan, in national health policy, for example our current national engagement on data in health and social care.

Public engagement will remain a core part of all elements of the healthcare system, and we encourage local and national teams to consider deliberative methods depending on the type of project and resources available. Any other future public engagement or deliberative events would be considered on an as-needs basis.