Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the NHS works with local authorities to ensure that people moving into temporary accommodation are supported to make necessary changes to personal information and continue to access relevant health services.

The Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 introduced a duty on specified public authorities to refer service users who they think may be homeless or threatened with homelessness to local authority homelessness/housing options teams. The specified public bodies include hospitals, emergency departments, and social services.

As part of the recently published cross-Government strategy, A National Plan to End Homelessness, the Government is committing to a new Duty to Collaborate as well. This aims to strengthen and improve co-operation, early identification, and information sharing between health, housing, and social care services. Further information on A National Plan to End Homelessness is avaiable at the following link:

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

Integrated care boards are expected to work in partnership with local authorities and housing services to support continuity of care for people whose housing circumstances change, including those moving into temporary accommodation. The 2025 10-Year Health Plan sets out how the Single Patient Record will support more consistent capture of social risk factors such as housing status, enabling care to be better coordinated across organisations when personal details or accommodation changes.