Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate NHS England has made of average emergency travel times to hyperbaric chambers for cases of suspected decompression illness.

Last year, NHS England held a public consultation on a revised service specification and changes to commissioning arrangements for hyperbaric oxygen services. This included consideration of the impacts on geographical access to services and traveling times.

As a formal public consultation, responses were invited from all those with an interest in these services, and responses were received from a range of experts.

Further information regarding the feedback received was published in November 2024, and is available at the following link:

Hyperbaric-oxygen-therapy-engagement-report-November-2024.pdf

The updated service specification was published in January 2025, and is available at the following link:

Hyperbaric-oxygen-therapy-services-all-ages-Service-specification-January-2025.pdf