David Ruffley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Ruffley on 2014-06-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the average travelling distance to a 24-hour accident and emergency department for people in (a) Bury St Edmunds constituency, (b) Suffolk and (c) England and Wales.

Jane Ellison

No estimate has been made by the Department. NHS England has, however, published best practice guidance ‘Planning and delivering service changes for patients’. In the guidance, commissioners are reminded that where any changes are proposed to urgent and emergency care services they need to provide analysis of travelling times and distances, identifying the impact on pedestrians and public and private transport users, as well as the ambulance service where relevant.