Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of formulating an adult respiratory unit model to enable adults with flu or other respiratory illnesses to gain a rapid assessment in winter 2022-23.
On 18 October 2022, NHS England wrote to systems on the expansion of winter resilience plans. Systems have been asked to consider establishing Acute Respiratory Infection hubs to manage increased acute respiratory infection (ARI) in the community. Guidance has been issued to support local systems to use existing infrastructure to design ARI hub models to manage demand and provide additional capacity. The hubs will ensure timely access for assessment and treatment and prevent avoidable hospital admissions and attendances.