Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to respond to the finding in the Care Quality Commission's report on Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, published in August 2016, on patients' eyesight deteriorating owing to delay in ophthalmology treatments; and if he will make a statement.

Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are responsible for commissioning hospital eye services and for holding providers to account in terms of contract performance.

The Department expects patients who require further planned stages of treatment in line with their agreed care plan to receive this treatment without undue delay when clinically appropriate.

NHS Improvement advises that Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has implemented a comprehensive quality improvement plan for its ophthalmology service. Southend CCG is also developing an Essex-wide Ophthalmology strategy to improve services and reduce waiting times.