Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to measure the air quality of (a) hospitals and (b) hospital car parks.

The policy around outdoor air quality measurement is led by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. This data is publicly available and used by National Health Service trusts, and NHS England. NHS England has set out a range of measures to reduce trusts’ impact on outdoor air quality, as part of its commitment to achieve Net Zero for direct NHS emissions by 2040. Specific actions are set out in its Net Zero Travel and Transport Strategy, Net Zero Estates Delivery Plan, and Clinical Waste Strategy, which are available respectively at the following links:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/net-zero-travel-and-transport-strategy/

https://www.jpaget.nhs.uk/media/588250/Estates-Net-Zero-Carbon-Delivery-Plan.pdf

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/nhs-clinical-waste-strategy/

The NHS’s guidance on indoor air quality is set out in the NHS technical memorandum 03-01: Specialised ventilation for healthcare premises, which is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/specialised-ventilation-for-healthcare-buildings/