Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps is he taking to improve patient flow between emergency departments and inpatient wards.

Our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan set out steps we are taking to ensure that patients will receive better, faster, and more appropriate emergency care this winter, backed by a total of nearly £450 million of funding. We are aiming for 78% of patients to be seen in in four hours this year, meaning over 800,000 people will receive more timely care. Building on this, the NHS Medium-Term Planning Framework sets out a clear trajectory to improve urgent and emergency care performance year-on-year, reducing long waits and improving patient flow.

In February, we published guidance on the Model Emergency Department, setting out the core principles and pathways for high-performing emergency departments. The guidance includes a national model for extended emergency medicine ambulatory care and is intended to support faster decision-making across urgent and emergency care pathways, whilst strengthening whole-system responsibility for performance. This will improve patient experience and patient flow, with lower waiting times and less overcrowding.