Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with NHS England on ensuring escalation protocols for deteriorating patients are consistently applied across trusts.

Patients are triaged upon their initial entry to accident and emergency departments, after which their condition and any deterioration is monitored through observation at clinically appropriate intervals. How this happens and how often it happens is down to local clinical decision making and governance.

There is a national target that patients receive an initial assessment within 15 minutes of arrival in accident and emergency. This assessment considers patient acuity, ensuring that those most unwell and at greatest risk are identified and prioritised, so that clinical oversight can be adjusted accordingly, and to ensure the sickest patients are seen first.