Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of NHS hospitals in coordinating with private or third sector care providers to optimise results for patients.

We would encourage working between all providers of health and care, to maximise safe and effective care for all patients.

Decisions about whether to use non-NHS capacity are generally made at local level, as part of the operational management of capacity and demand.