Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 29 April 2020 to Question 34959, when the 2,050 portals for social contact in health settings will be active; and what proportion of those portals will be in care homes.

The NHSX Facebook Portal pilot is ongoing with some regional partners still in the process of allocating to local care providers. As of 11 May 2020, over 1,000 Portals had been successfully delivered, with several hundred now deployed and helping care home residents and patients to connect with loved ones. It is expected that all 2,050 Portals will be deployed by the end of May 2020 or soon thereafter. As numbers stand, just over 70% of the Portals will be in care homes. The remaining devices will be deployed in hospices, supported living services, primary and secondary health services, or will be used to support individuals in their own homes.