Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has been made of the adequacy of winter capacity in (a) all Greater Manchester hospitals and (b) Royal Oldham Hospital.

We continue to monitor the impact of winter pressures on the National Health Service over the winter months.

The Department is continuing to take key steps to ensure the health service is prepared for the colder months. This includes taking actions to try and reduce demand pressure on accident and emergency departments, increasing vaccination rates, and offering health checks to the most vulnerable, as well as stress-testing integrated care boards and trust winter plans to ensure they include a focus on reducing bed occupancy ahead of Christmas, creating additional capacity and improving patient flow.