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 ensure the adequacy of the provision of intensive care beds in the event of a outbreak of covid-19.

The Department is confident that the United Kingdom is well prepared for disease outbreaks, having responded to a wide range of infectious disease outbreaks in the recent past, and having undertaken significant preparedness work for an influenza pandemic for well over one decade. NHS England have provided assurance that, at this point in time, they are confident they have enough bed capacity.

In preparing for, and responding to, a serious disease outbreak, the Government and the devolved administrations aim to ensure that the agencies responsible for tackling the outbreak are properly resourced to do so, that they have the people and the equipment and medicines they need.