Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, in the light of the report by the British Hernia Society and the Royal College of Surgeons, A dangerous waiting game, published 17 July, what assessment they have made of whether clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are delaying patients from accessing groin hernia surgery without clinical justification; and whether they plan to intervene when CCGs delay treatment in such a way.

We have made no such assessment. It is for clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to determine what services they commission as these are statutory, independent and autonomous bodies. We expect NHS England to assess CCGs to ensure they are commissioning both efficiently and effectively to meet the needs of its local population. Where a CCG is not meeting this standard, we would expect NHS England to intervene.