Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to enable clinical professionals to have autonomy in determining which services they provide to patients.

Patient safety is paramount in relation to the services clinical professionals provide to patients. Decisions on how services are provided are taken by clinical commissioning groups who develop strategic clinical plans covering a wide range of health care services. In doing so they use their clinical expertise to assess and prioritise those treatments that provide the safest and most effective outcomes for the population.

Healthcare professionals will have different levels of autonomy depending upon their role and experience. All professionals are expected to exercise professional judgement and be accountable for their work in the context of their scope of practice. Regulated professionals must also abide by their regulatory body’s Code of Conduct. Decisions about treatment should always be based on patients’ clinical needs.