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 increase support for the delivery of emergency care at the William Harvey Hospital.

The Government recognises that urgent and emergency care performance has fallen short in recent years and is committed to restoring accident and emergency waiting times to the National Health Service constitutional standard across England to support the delivery of emergency care, including at the William Harvey Hospital.

East Kent Trust, which the William Harvey hospital is part of, is receiving focused support as part of the National urgent and emergency care tiering programme, designed to support the most challenged trusts with urgent and emergency care.