Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to bring forward reforms to improve NHS efficiency.

The merger of NHS England and the Department will lead to a smaller, leaner and more agile department. Alongside this, the restructuring of integrated care systems and commissioning support units is set to reduce running costs and NHS England is also tackling corporate cost growth in providers. These ongoing reforms will transform the way the centre and the National Health service works, prioritise resources for the front line and deliver significant efficiency savings. NHS efficiencies also include more effective use of medicines, commercial levers, automation, shared corporate services and reduced use of agency staff.

Looking forward, the funding provided at the recent Spending Review will enable the NHS to achieve 2% productivity growth each year, and we will shortly be publishing the 10-Year Health Plan that will set out the wider reform agenda.