Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will conduct a review of hospital (a) food and (b) cleaning contracts to assess the potential merits of bringing those services in-house to improve (i) food standards and (ii) infection control in NHS England hospitals.

National Health Service trusts make decisions locally on how the services needed to run their hospitals are delivered. This will be based on their service needs and their local environment, including taking into account the locations, types and economics of how these services can be procured and run. All organisations regardless of whether they are outsourced, or in-house teams are required to follow the same National Cleaning Standards and the five Core Standards for Hospital Food.

A review of NHS food was announced on 17 June 2019, and this will include how bringing the provision of food services in-house could improve quality and value for money.