Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the number of Integrated Care Boards currently complying with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance on the provision of intermediate care for patients who are experiencing homelessness.

The Department recognises the importance of ensuring that people experiencing homelessness have access to appropriate intermediate care. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline 214 on Integrated health and social care for people experiencing homelessness sets out clear expectations on tailored intermediate care for individuals experiencing homelessness, and we are exploring how best to encourage integrated care boards (ICBs) to adopt and embed this guidance. This guidance is avaiable at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng214/chapter/Recommendations#intermediate-care

Health bodies, including ICBs, are expected to take guidance into account alongside clinical judgement and local priorities. However, NICE guidance is not mandatory. Therefore, there is no published Government assessment showing how many ICBs in England are currently complying with NICE guideline 214.

In December 2025, the Government published the National Plan to End Homelessness and Rough Sleeping which commits to ensuring no one eligible for homelessness assistance is discharged to the street after a hospital stay. Further information on the national plan is avaiable at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/a-national-plan-to-end-homelessness/a-national-plan-to-end-homelessness#

To support this, the Government will work with the National Health Service and local authorities to ensure the 2024 guidance Discharging people at risk of or experiencing homelessness is embedded in systems and will improve how existing funding streams can be used to support intermediate care services tailored to the needs of people experiencing homelessness. Further information on this guidance is avaiable at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/discharging-people-at-risk-of-or-experiencing-homelessness/discharging-people-at-risk-of-or-experiencing-homelessness