Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of changes to the funding provided by NHS England on the planned elective care hub at St Albans City Hospital, in particular the impact on East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust, The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust, and West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

Capital funding for the Hertfordshire and West Essex Surgical Centre at St Albans City Hospital remains in place, and building work is being supported through to completion.

Although there are no current plans for the patients of the East and North Hertfordshire Hospitals Trust to use the West Essex Surgical Centre when it opens, the integrated care board intends the centre to support the Princess Alexandra Hospital Trust with their orthopaedic capacity over winter, and the centre will be used by West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals Trust patients while existing theatres at St Albans City Hospital are refurbished.

Having this high-quality new resource in the system will also give the trust the flexibility to scale up capacity in the future if needed, and will benefit patients for years to come.