Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of the closure of beds in NHS hospitals across the Borough of Barking and Dagenham.

No specific assessment has been made. However, the National Health Service plans to substantially increase capacity and resilience for winter 2022/23. NHS bed capacity will be increased by the equivalent of at least 7,000 general and acute beds, including new physical beds and expanding the use of innovative virtual wards to treat patients safely at home.

The Government has also invested £500 million in an Adult Social Care Discharge Fund to assist safe discharges for patients when medically fit and increase bed capacity and reduce waits for emergency care.