§ Tim LoughtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health whether(a) the local health authorities or (b) the private health care companies involved in sending NHS patients for treatment abroad have the final decision in selecting individual patients for the project. [53323]
§ Mr. HuttonThe local health authorities involved in sending patients overseas have been responsible for identifying groups of patients to whom the opportunity of treatment overseas should be offered. The final decision on whether a patient should be treated in an overseas hospital rests with the receiving clinician. The essential clinical criteria are that patients are fit to undergo the journey and that in the clinician's opinion they require treatment.