Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has has discussions with his counterparts in Northern Ireland on pressures on accident and emergency services.

As a Government department, we work collaboratively with the devolved administrations to drive forward our objective of supporting people to lead more independent, healthier lives for longer.

While health is primarily devolved and each health system operates in its own context, there are strong benefits from sharing experiences and learning between the devolved administrations. While ministers have not recently discussed pressures on accident and emergency services in recent months, Department and NHS England officials periodically speak informally with counterparts on urgent and emergency care issues.