Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will initiate all-party discussions on how to ensure that the NHS is financially sustainable in the long-term.

Rising demands and continued fiscal constraint means that the National Health Service faces challenges in ensuring that it remains financially sustainable in the future. The Government believes that the answer to these challenges lies in changing the way services are delivered and keeping people well and independent for longer, not in altering the fundamental principles that underpin the NHS.

The Government has committed to increasing spending on the NHS in real terms every year in this Parliament, with spending to be at least £8 billion higher by 2020 over and above inflation. This will fund and support the NHS’s own action plan for the next five years – the NHS Five Year Forward View. Robust discussions on financing the NHS take place regularly in Parliament which will continue to inform the Government.