Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions his Department has had with NHS England on potential intervention measures to address financial problems in the NHS in Devon; what criteria will be used to decide on the timing of the application of such measures; and whether he expects the application of such measures to be affected by the timing of the general election.

This is a matter for the National Health Service.

Devon is one of eleven financially challenged health economies to be provided with support from NHS England, Monitor and the NHS Trust Development Authority to develop and strengthen their strategic plans. The report of this joint work was published in December 2014 and is attached.

Work based on this support is ongoing in each of the local health economies. This includes the consideration of strategic plans, consultations on possible reforms and the implementation of recommendations flowing from this. The timescales for these processes will be different in each of the 11 areas.

We hold meetings with NHS England on a regular basis to discuss a wide range of issues, including NHS services in the South West of England.