Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a revised funding formula for unavoidably small hospitals in (a) rural and (b) all other areas to enable them to (i) be more fully utilised as hospitals and (ii) offer a wider range of essential health services; and if he will make a statement.

NHS England is responsible for funding allocations to integrated care boards (ICBs), independently of the Government. The allocation formula is informed by an estimation of the relative health needs of local areas, based on factors statistically associated with higher or lower need per head for NHS services. Further cost adjustments are also applied to estimate the unavoidable cost differences between health care providers, based on location. The approach has been reviewed and a target adjustment was included in the 2022/23 ICB allocations.