Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce preventable admissions in A&E.

We are significantly expanding urgent care across the country, including building and expanding 40 same day emergency care services and urgent treatment centres. This will mean patients are treated more quickly and in the most appropriate setting, while easing pressure on busy accident and emergency departments so they can focus on the most serious cases.

Alongside this, we are expanding urgent care outside hospital through new neighbourhood health services. Urgent community care enables people to receive timely, high‑quality care in their own homes or communities, helping to maintain independence and ensuring hospital attendance only where clinically necessary. The Neighbourhood Health model prioritises urgent community response, virtual wards, and coordinated multidisciplinary teams to support people with escalating or acute needs, preventing unnecessary hospital admissions and supporting care closer to home.

The Urgent and Emergency Care Delivery Plan 2025/26 also committed to scaling a new “Home First” approach, enabling ambulance services to prioritise the most critical cases while providing alternative pathways for those with less urgent needs. This includes “see and treat” and “hear and treat” approaches, supported by additional clinicians in emergency operations centres and single points of access.