Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will set out the contractual requirements that apply to independent sector providers delivering NHS-funded cataract surgery, including whether they are required to accept an appropriate case mix rather than lower-complexity patients.

Independent sector providers are commissioned and managed by integrated care boards (ICBs) under the terms of the NHS Standard Contract which applies the same standards of oversight and regulation as are applied to National Health Service providers.

In the 10-Year Health Plan for England, we set out we would not tolerate ‘gaming’ the national payment tariff to cherry pick the simplest, most profitable cases. ICBs are expected to monitor this, and act decisively where they identify problems as part of a wider duty to safeguard and ensure value for taxpayer money.