Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what financial and ethical stringency tests his Department applies to (a) private healthcare providers bidding for NHS contracts and (b) the parent companies of those providers.

It is this Government’s policy, as it was that of the previous Government, that National Health Service patients should receive services from the best providers available, regardless of sector.

It is for commissioners, both at national (NHS England) and local level (clinical commissioning groups, to decide how best to secure local services and take a decision on which are the most capable providers to deliver those services in the best interests of their patients.

Assessments of potential providers are conducted in a manner that is proportionate and flexible, whilst ensuring compliance with the regulatory and legislative frameworks governing the procurement of health related services. In selecting potential providers, the selection criteria are appropriate to the complexity of the service requirement and commissioners are obliged to evaluate and treat all bidders equally and fairly, whatever their size or constitution.