Written question asked by Mark Simmonds (Conservative) on Wednesday, 24 February 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Friday, 26 February 2010. It was answered by Mike O'Brien (Labour) on Wednesday, 3 March 2010 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Health Services

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects the designation of specialist providers as recommended in the Carter Report of 2006 to have been completed.

Answer: There has been a lot of progress in specialised commissioning since the publication of Sir David Carter's Review of Specialised Commissioning Arrangements for Specialised Services in 2006. Specialised Commissioning Groups (SCGs) are working towards designating providers of specialised services.To date, national designation standards have been agreed for five specialised services. The National Specialised Commissioning Group is due to consider a plan for the development of further designation standards at its meeting on 3 March 2010. This plan will make recommendations about which sets of designation material are a priority for development. It will remain for individual SCGs to decide which services they choose to designate locally, a decision based on local priorities and discussion with their constituent primary care trusts.

Secondary information