Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to prevent digital exclusion from increasing health inequalities in the context of the Health Bill.

The Government’s Health Bill will improve services for patients, deliver efficiencies for the National Health Service and commits to reducing health inequalities.

Under the proposed legislation, NHS organisations must ensure all patients have equitable access to care, and that decisions or policies do not unfairly disadvantage people or lead to an increase in inequalities. All NHS organisations are legally obliged to not discriminate.

As part of its 10-Year Health Plan, the Government has also committed to delivering digital services that are accessible to all patients, now. The Government has tasked integrated care boards with mitigating any digital exclusion and ensuring that digital services become accessible to the whole population by 2028, including those who do not routinely use smartphones.