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 equality of access to ICU beds in the regions of England during the covid-19 outbreak; and whether the new hospitals in (a) London, (b) Birmingham and (c) Manchester will operate according to a catchment area system.

NHS England and NHS Improvement are actively monitoring patient and bed numbers across the country on a twice daily basis. Mutual aid is in place between intensive care providers as well as across National Health Service regions that allows for timely access for all patients who require an intensive care bed to the most appropriate setting.

The Nightingale Hospitals provide extra capacity to help ensure that nationally all those who need care can get it.