Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that the merger of NHS England with his Department does not affect patients' right to choose healthcare providers.

Patients have a legal right to choose where they go for their first appointment when referred to consultant-led care as an outpatient. The NHS Constitution for England sets out patients' legal rights to make choices about their healthcare and the merger of NHS England with the Department of Health and Social Care will not affect these rights.

My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, is committed to empowering patients by giving them greater choice and control, in a National Health Service that is increasingly receptive and responsive to patient preference, voice, and choice. The 10-Year Health Plan sets out our ongoing commitment to patient choice, including by implementing a new patient Choice Charter to empower patients to be more involved in their own care and the NHS to be more patient-centred through mechanisms such as enhanced use of the NHS App, expanded self-referral options, meaningful choice of providers for elective treatments, funding models that reflect patient feedback, and expansion of personal health budgets.