Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the 2014 report published by the British Healthcare Trades Association on the economic benefits of improved provision of equipment for disabled and terminally ill children.

The report by the British Healthcare Trades Association concluded that the costs of medical care would be significantly reduced through more effective provision of equipment, and the National Health Service is continually seeking to improve equipment provision and use. NHS England is leading work to improve wheelchair commissioning and posture services through the development and dissemination of its wheelchair service specification and by working with commissioners to eliminate 18 week waits for wheelchairs by the end of 2018/19. Since 2016, the Department has funded sports activity prostheses for children who have suffered limb loss or congenital limb deficiency.