Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the possible effect of reductions in accident and emergency opening hours on public health and medical treatment standards.

Changes to front line health services are a matter for local National Health Service commissioners and providers.

Any significant service change should take account of guidance published by NHS England on 29 October 2015: Planning, assuring and delivering service change for patients. This reflects the objective in the mandate from the Government to NHS England to ensure that significant changes to services meet four tests: (i) strong public and patient engagement; (ii) consistency with current and prospective need for patient choice; (iii) a clear clinical evidence base; and (iv) support for proposals from clinical commissioners.