Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of patient involvement in the commissioning process for musculoskeletal services carried out by Greenwich Clinical Commissioning Group prior to the granting of that contract to Circle Holdings PLC; and if he will make a statement.

The procurement of local health services by means of competitive tendering is a matter for the local National Health Service.

We are advised by NHS England that Greenwich Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) undertook the first of its engagement events on the proposed redesign of the musculoskeletal services pathway during November 2013. We understand that this initial engagement enabled the CCG to identify that the existing pathway was felt to be fragmented and complex for patients. In light of that, a new model was proposed in December 2013, and was shared with the public at workshops during 2014.

We are further advised by NHS England that the proposed pathway was outlined in the draft service specification, which was shared with the patient reference group (PRG) during February and March 2016. We understand that the specification was sent to PRG members to cascade to their patient participation groups and other groups of which they are members, such as the Pensioners’ Forum.