Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what definition her Department uses to define an NHS winter crisis; and what criteria must be met before such a crisis is declared.

NHS England uses the national Operational Pressures Escalation Levels framework, which provides a unified, systematic, and structured approach to co-ordinate responses to operational pressures at system, regional, and national levels.

The National Health Service approaches each winter on the basis that local services will face severe pressures, and plan accordingly. NHS England has set out its winter planning expectations for 2026/27, requiring every local area to have a robust, clinically led, and deliverable winter plan, tested against surge and extreme surge scenarios.

Integrated care boards are responsible for winter plans for their areas, agreed with local partners, while NHS England regional teams oversee preparedness and performance and co-ordinate mutual aid where required.