§ Mr. TruswellTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the effect of clinical governance on the continuing provision of in-patient surgical services at(a) smaller hospitals and (b) in general. [127797]
§ Mr. DenhamClinical governance is central to our plans to provide a health service that continually improves the overall standard of clinical care it delivers, reduces unacceptable variations in treatment outcomes, and ensures that clinical decision making is supported by evidence of effectiveness. It represents a systematic approach to clinical quality assurance and improvement, but does not dictate how services should be managed or delivered. This is the responsibility of local commissioners who must ensure that high quality surgical services are provided safely, taking into account local circumstances such as geography and the need for remote smaller services to be linked into wider clinical networks.