Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is planning to take to improve the delivery of joined-up care for people affected by (a) axial spondyloarthritis and (b) other musculoskeletal health conditions following the abolition of NHS England.

As we bring together the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England to form a new joint centre, we will empower staff to focus on delivering better care for patients, including for people with axial spondyloarthritis and other musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions, driving productivity up, and getting waiting times down. By the end of the process, we estimate that these changes will save hundreds of millions of pounds a year, which will be reinvested in frontline services.

We continue to take forward the Government’s ambitious reform agenda as set out in the health mission, with more details to come when the 10-Year Health Plan is published. The 10-Year Health Plan will deliver the three big shifts the National Health Service needs to be fit for the future: from hospital to community; from analogue to digital; and from sickness to prevention. All of these are relevant to improving MSK care for people in all parts of the country. More tests and scans delivered in the community, better joint working between services, and greater use of apps and wearable technology will all support people to manage their long-term conditions, including MSK conditions, closer to home.