Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 14 December 2022 to Question 102899 on Medical Equipment: Energy, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of National Health Services specialised services' financial rebates for energy costs.

The Department does not have plans to assess the adequacy of NHS England specialised services’ financial rebates for energy costs at this time.

However, certain specialised National Health Services, such as home haemodialysis, do include the provision of financial support to offset increased energy costs faced by patients using medical equipment at home. NHS England has uplifted tariff prices by +4.1% this year to account for inflationary costs and to support NHS Trusts in uplifting their local reimbursement tariffs for patients. Home Oxygen Suppliers also reimburse patients for the cost of electricity required to run oxygen concentrator devices in patients’ homes and reimbursements are currently in line with regional averages. Cost is passed onto Integrated Care Boards as part of contractual arrangements.

In addition, the Government’s cost of living support package further delivers £15 billion worth of support measures to assist the most vulnerable with rising energy costs.