Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the preparedness of the NHS in Essex for winter 2023-24; and how much additional funding his Department plans to provide to NHS services in Essex for winter 2023-24.

No such assessment has been made, as local winter resilience plans and resourcing are an operational matter for the National Health Service. National Health Service winter planning at a national level started earlier this year than in previous years. The urgent and emergency care recovery plan was published in January 2023 and included £1 billion of dedicated funding. In April we distributed £600 million discharge funding to local authorities and the NHS to support increased capacity in community care and social care to enable earlier discharges from hospital and avoid unnecessary admissions. In July 2023, NHS England wrote to integrated care boards, trusts and primary care networks to set out a national approach to 2023/24 winter planning and the key steps to be taken across all parts of the system to meet the challenges expected from winter pressures.