Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have (1) to ring fence funding, and (2) to prioritise rehabilitation, for hospital patients who are recovering critical illnesses.

The Government has provided a dedicated national discharge fund, managed by the National Health Service, for the first half of 2021/2022 financial year. In tandem with the existing services commissioned by local authorities and clinical commissioning groups, this discharge fund pays for the cost of post-discharge recovery and support services. This includes bed based and home-based rehabilitation and re-ablement care following discharge from hospital and is funded for up to four weeks.