Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to reduce preventable emergency department presentations.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer of 9 June to Question 3696 on the action the Government is taking to reduce alcohol related hospital admissions.

More broadly, the Government is taking action across a range of services to help people receive appropriate care before they need to attend an emergency department. This includes expanding Pharmacy First so that more common conditions can be treated in the community, investing in new and expanded Urgent Treatment Centres strengthening NHS 111 so that patients can be directed to the right service the first time, and expanding urgent community services to provide more care at or closer to home.