Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to his oral contribution of 19 June 2018, Official Report, column 173, what criteria are used to assess health need when determining the siting of a local hospital; and if he will make a statement.

NHS England have set out in their Planning, Assuring and Delivering Service Changes for Patients guidance the principles and the following four tests in relation to services changes, including resiting a local hospital:

- Strong public and patient engagement;

- Consistency with current and prospective need for patient choice;

- A clear, clinical evidence base; and

- Support for proposals from clinical commissioners.

The guidance also states that for any service change requiring public consultation which also requires capital funding, NHS England and NHS Improvement will assess any proposals to provide assurance that they do not require an unsustainable level of capital expenditure and that they will be affordable in revenue terms.

The guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/planning-assuring-and-delivering-service-change-for-patients/