Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on patient outcomes of the decision of East Riding of Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group to delay access to elective surgical procedures for patients with a body mass index greater than 30.

The Department has not assessed the effect on patient outcomes following the introduction of East Riding of Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to introduce its ‘Get Fit for your Operation’ programme in 2017 to support patients to live healthier lifestyles.

Treatment decisions should always be made by doctors based on patients’ clinical needs. CCGs have a statutory responsibility to commission services which meet the needs of their local population - the vast majority of treatments and services that patients need are offered routinely by the National Health Service. Where this is not the case, a clinician can make an individual funding request if they believe their patient’s circumstances are clinically exceptional.

If there is evidence of rationing care, we expect NHS England to ensure the CCG is not breaching its statutory responsibility to provide services that meet the needs of the local population.