Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he was notified that the number of critical care beds would be inadequate to deal with the predicted number of cases of covid-19.

The Secretary of State held a series of meetings in February and March to review critical care bed capacity within the National Health Service (NHS) and COVID-19 case number projections provided by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies.

There is currently enough capacity in the critical care network to look after all coronavirus patients and others who need care, and this is being kept under constant review. The NHS is continuing to build on that capacity, which has included building new Nightingale Hospitals and agreeing a landmark deal with the independent sector to alleviate pressure on Intensive Care Unit departments when and where needed.