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 potential merits of the recommendations of the Academic Health Science Networks report of 5 November 2018 on Understanding the Performance and Potential of Specialist Hospitals.

NHS England will be considering the implications of the report’s recommendations to consider how the National Health Service could take greater advantage of specialist hospitals and their strengths and, in liaison with the Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs), ensure that AHSNs continue to build and develop their local and regional networks, strengthening relationships with all NHS organisations including specialist hospitals.