Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the compatibility with the NHS constitution of the changes to services proposed by NEW Devon Clinical Commissioning Group.

The provision of health services in line with the NHS Constitution is the responsibility of the local clinical commissioning group (CCG).

A search of the Department’s Ministerial correspondence database has identified 44 items of correspondence about changes to services proposed by Northern, Eastern and Western Devon CCG received in the last six months. This is a minimum figure which represents correspondence received by the Department’s Ministerial correspondence unit only.

All correspondence was from members of the public, and predominantly relates to proposed service changes in community hospitals in the area. One item of correspondence related to proposed changes at Ottery St Mary Hospital, and two related to the commissioning changes recently proposed by the CCG.