Hospital Ward: Closures

(asked on )

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many wards are currently closed under the framework to support winter pressures in 2017-18.


Answered by
Steve Barclay Portrait
Steve Barclay
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
This question was answered on 25th April 2018

This information is not held centrally.

It was recommended by National Health Service clinical leaders (National Emergency Pressures Panel) that non-urgent elective care be deferred to 31 January (from end of December) to free up capacity for our sickest patients. This deferment of non-urgent operations was the right thing to do while we managed the additional pressures of winter. For those patients who have not had new appointments, cancelled operations should be rescheduled by trusts at the earliest opportunity, taking into account patients’ clinical need.

Decisions on scaling up and down bed capacity to respond to demand are managed locally by trusts. During the winter period, over 2,600 additional beds have been made available.

Reticulating Splines