Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if his Department will investigate the adequacy of the major incident plans at NHS hospitals in England and Wales and the ability of these plans to cope with the increased demand of A&E services in England over the last two months.

The National Health Service (NHS) organisations’ plans for responding to incidents that could impact on health or patient care must be in line with NHS England’s guidance. The NHS has planned earlier than ever for this winter, and has plans in place everywhere to meet rising demand.