Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that patients in emergency departments of hospitals are treated in appropriate spaces.

This Government is determined to get the National Health Service back on its feet, so patients can be treated with dignity.

Our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan, published in June 2025, set out steps that we are taking to ensure that patients will receive better, faster and more appropriate emergency care this winter, backed by a total of nearly £450 million of funding.

We will also publish new clinical operational standards for the first 72 hours of care which will support better hospital flow, aimed at reducing overcrowding and long waits.

We have been taking key steps to ensure the health service is prepared for the colder months. This includes taking actions to try and reduce demand pressure on accident and emergency departments, increasing vaccination rates and offering health checks to the most vulnerable, as well as stress-testing integrated care board and trust winter plans to confirm they are able to meet demand and support patient flow.