Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of whether care homes are experiencing difficulties in getting residents with covid-19 taken into hospital.

NHS England has advised that every COVID-19 patient needing hospital care, including ventilation, has been able to receive it.

Guidance on the case definition for COVID-19 and whether the inpatient definition is met (admittance to hospital) can be found online. This advice is purely based on clinical presentation.

A letter was sent out to National Health Service organisations and general practitioner practices on 7 April from NHS England and NHS Improvement reminding people of the principles of the NHS Constitution and stressing that even in a time of emergency each person is an individual whose needs and preferences must be taken account of individually. By contrast blanket policies are inappropriate whether due to medical condition, disability, or age.