Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the press release entitled PM launches new era for NHS with easier care in neighbourhoods, published on 2 July 2025, how his Department plans to define neighbourhoods in rural areas.

The Neighbourhood Health Service will mean millions of patients, including those in rural constituencies, are treated and cared for closer to their home by new teams of health professionals.

We expect neighbourhood teams and services to be designed in a way that meets the needs of local populations. Rather an applying a rigid, one-size fits all model, the population base for Neighbourhood Health Services is intentionally flexible and locally determined. The geography of a ‘neighbourhood’ will be determined locally by integrated care boards in partnership with their strategic partners, particularly local authorities.

The plan introduces two new contracts, including one to create multi-neighbourhood providers covering populations of approximately 250,000 people, that will unlock the advantages and efficiencies possible from greater scale working across all general practices and small neighbourhood providers in their footprint.

Moreover, in the future, there will also be neighbourhood health plans drawn up by local government, the National Health Service, and its partners. The local ICB will bring together these plans into a population health improvement plan for their footprint, which they will use to inform commissioning decisions.

We expect neighbourhood teams and services to be designed in a way that reflects the specific needs of local populations. While we will be clear on the outcomes we expect, we will give significant licence to tailor the approach to local need. The focus on personalised, coordinated care will be consistent, but the service will look different in rural communities, coastal towns, and/or deprived inner cities.