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 ensure that the New Hospitals Programme will support the adoption of innovative treatment platforms that require infrastructure investment.

The New Hospital Programme will enhance treatment and care facilities and replace outdated infrastructure. It will utilise the technology to optimise clinical and physical designs to improve patient outcomes and experience and the working environment for staff.

We are ensuring that new hospitals are versatile, flexible and adaptable to respond to advances in medicine and emerging innovative treatment platforms. This includes implementing digitally enabled, intelligent new hospitals which allow for continuous improvement in healthcare and modernisation of services. We are reviewing new and emerging detection, diagnosis and treatment options and increasing the capacity of single rooms for patients to improve patients' experience and reduce the risk of infection. This is informing layout plans to ensure equipment is effectively placed to improve patient outcomes, such as specialist imaging equipment adjacent to or within operating theatres.