Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of audiology services in England that have been outsourced to private providers by NHS (a) trusts and (b) integrated care boards.

Audiology services are directly commissioned via integrated care boards (ICBs), which have responsibility for overseeing the quality and effectiveness of these services. Waiting times are recorded for audiology assessments through the national diagnostic activity and waiting times collection. This data is reviewed and monitored monthly across ICBs and NHS England. The data is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/community-health-services-waiting-lists/