Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report published by The Lancet in July 2022 entitled Outsourcing health-care services to the private sector and treatable mortality rates in England, 2013–20: an observational study of NHS privatisation, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of that report's statement that its findings suggest further privatisation of the NHS might lead to worse population health outcomes; and if he will commission an investigation into the potential impact of the use of private health care providers by the NHS on mortality rates.

Independent sector providers have a significant role to play supporting the National Health Service as trusted partners to recover elective services. Use of the independent sector will support our efforts to tackle the backlog and get waiting lists down. All providers of healthcare are regulated by the Care Quality Commission and follow a set of fundamental standards of safety and quality. The Department considers a wide range of material when developing policies. We do not intend to make a specific assessment of this report, nor commission an investigation into the impact of private healthcare providers on mortality rates.