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 adequacy of only having four levels in the Resource Escalation Action Plan.

As of 8 December 2022, 10 out of the 11 Ambulance Trusts in England were at level four in the Resources Escalation Action Plan (REAP).

No assessment has been made. REAP is a National Health Service operational framework, and the four REAP levels correspond to OPEL (Operational Pressures Escalation Levels) used by other NHS organisations. They provide a framework to maintain an effective and safe operational and clinical response for patients.