Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish (a) the guidance (i) his Department and (ii) NHS England are providing to Trusts within (A) Category 3 and (B) Category 4 of the league tables of NHS trusts in England, published on 9 September 2025 and (b) the timetable for performance improvement.

The league table ‘segments’, or performance categories, published on 9 September 2025 are based on National Health Service trusts’ performance against the metrics and methodology in the NHS Oversight Framework 2025/26. NHS England published this framework on their website on 26 June 2025, and it is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/nhs-oversight-framework-2025-26/

NHS England uses the segmentation scores, alongside wider information, to inform oversight and improvement activities. Trusts in segments 3 and 4 will receive targeted support to address their most challenged performance areas, which may include, for example, urgent and emergency care, outpatients, mental health, finance, or maternity.

NHS providers who have low performance, and which are therefore in segment 4, and low capability will be escalated to segment 5, where they will receive the most intensive support through the Recovery Support Programme (RSP). The RSP will soon be replaced by the National Provider Improvement Programme, focusing on determining whether the most challenged have the necessary conditions in place to deliver sustainable improvement and ensuring support is in place as needed.

There is no national improvement timetable. Improvement plans will be different from trust to trust depending on their particular challenges and local circumstances.