Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to move (a) clinics and (b) routine appointments into community hospitals in Surrey.

As announced at the Budget, we are committed to delivering 250 neighbourhood health centres by 2035 across every part of England, and there are now also 100 community diagnostic centres across the country offering out-of-hours services, 12 hours a day, seven days a week.

Community diagnostic centres are supporting one of the three 10-Year Health Plan shifts, from the hospital to the community, by offering local populations a wide range of diagnostic tests including imaging tests, endoscopies, and respiratory tests, closer to home, as well as greater choice on where and how they are undertaken, reducing pressure on acute hospital sites.

Over time our aim is also to have a Neighbourhood Health Centre in each community that brings together appropriate National Health Service, local authority, and voluntary sector services in one building to help create a holistic offer that meets the needs of local populations, and to help move care from hospitals into community settings.

Nationwide coverage will take time, but we will start in the areas of greatest need where healthy life expectancy is lowest, including rural towns and communities with higher deprivation levels, targeting places where healthy life expectancy is lowest and delivering healthcare closer to home for those that need it the most.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning, including planning, securing, and monitoring, general practice services within their health systems through delegated responsibility from NHS England. Both ICBs and local health systems will be responsible for determining the most appropriate locations for neighbourhood health centres.