Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average A&E capacity utilisation rate is for (a) Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, (b) University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust and (c) England.

NHS England does not publish an accident and emergency (A&E) capacity utilisation for individual hospitals, National Health Service trusts or England. Consequently, the Department cannot provide the requested figures from published data.

The closest published measure is the general and acute (G&A) bed occupancy rate, which shows the proportion of available general and acute inpatient beds that are occupied. However, this is a measure of inpatient bed occupancy rather than emergency department capacity and should not be interpreted as an A&E capacity utilisation rate. The latest published G&A bed occupancy data is available through NHS England’s Urgent and Emergency Care Daily Situation Reports at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/bed-availability-and-occupancy/critical-care-and-general-acute-beds-urgent-and-emergency-care-daily-situation-reports/

The Government recognises the sustained pressures facing urgent and emergency care services and is committed to restoring urgent and emergency care waiting times to the standards set out in the NHS Constitution. Through the Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26, backed by over £450 million of investment, the Government and NHS England are expanding Same Day Emergency Care services, Urgent Treatment Centres, Mental Health Crisis Assessment Centres and ambulance capacity to improve patient flow and reduce pressure on emergency departments.

NHS England has also published the Model Emergency Department and the Model Acute Pathway standards for the first 72 hours of care, supporting earlier assessment, timely senior clinical review, faster clinical decision-making and improved patient flow. University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust continues to work with NHS England and Getting It Right First Time teams to improve urgent and emergency care performance.