Hospitals: Standards

(asked on 14th March 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 25 February 2019 to Question 223521 on Waiting Lists: North East, whether any changes to the pledges of (a) a maximum four-hour wait in A&E from arrival to admission, transfer or discharge and (b) other waiting times set out on pages 32 and 33 of the Handbook to the NHS Constitution will be subject to public consultation.


Answered by
Stephen Hammond Portrait
Stephen Hammond
This question was answered on 21st March 2019

NHS England published the clinically-led review of standards interim report on 11 March 2019. The full report and recommendations from the NHS National Medical Director can be found at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/clinical-review-nhs-access-standards/

These proposals will now be rigorously field tested, to gather further evidence on clinical, operational, workforce and financial implications. Alongside field-testing, a review panel will undertake extensive engagement across the wider health system ahead of presenting the evidence and making final recommendations to the Government. Staff bodies, patient groups and others will be involved in the testing and development of the proposals before finalising recommendations.

A final report will be published in the autumn, after which final recommendations will be implemented more widely, and full implementation beginning in spring 2020.

The standards are set out in the Handbook to the NHS Constitution and we will update the Handbook as necessary to reflect any changes to standards. There is no requirement to hold a consultation to make changes to the handbook.

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