Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support unplanned specialist social care services that help prevent hospital admissions for people with complex needs.

The Government and the National Health Service are working with local authorities and adult social care providers to help keep people well and independent for as long as possible, and to provide alternatives to hospital and care home admissions.

We have set out priorities for the NHS and local authorities to begin to move to a neighbourhood health service that delivers more care closer to home and that better supports people with complex needs. We are asking local systems to systematically implement six core components of neighbourhood health, which will help people stay healthy and independent for longer and reduce unnecessary time spent in hospital. This includes integrated intermediate care services to prevent an avoidable hospital admission or as part of hospital discharge planning.

NHS Operational Planning Guidance for 2025/26 sets an objective to deliver a minimum 10% reduction in the use of mental health inpatient care for people with a learning disability and autistic people. There is funding in NHS integrated care board baselines this financial year to improve community support provision and reduce reliance on inpatient care for people with a learning disability and autistic people, in line with the NHS Operational Planning Guidance.

The Mental Health Bill was introduced in the House of Lords on 6 November 2024. Through our proposed reforms to the Mental Health Act, we want to ensure that people with a learning disability and autistic people get the support they need in the community, improve care, and prevent admission to hospitals.