Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of hospital access to medical equipment in the Surrey Heath constituency.

Individual National Health Service trusts and foundation trusts are responsible and accountable for their own purchasing decisions, which will include medical equipment. NHS organisations are independent commercial entities, and it is for an NHS procuring authority to satisfy itself on how best to obtain quality and value for money through its procurement activity.

Local NHS organisations have access to a wide range of procurement routes, but the Government has put in place a range of initiatives to help NHS bodies make informed choices about the products and the route through which they are bought. These include NHS Supply Chain, a national body which is responsible for procuring and delivering most consumables, medical equipment and other supplies into the NHS. NHS Supply Chain was set up to leverage the collective buying power of the NHS to drive savings and provide a standardised range of clinically assured quality products at the best value.