Health Services: Hospitals

(asked on 19th November 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any national triage system has been put in place in hospitals for the upcoming winter period; if so, (1) what are the criteria of that system, (2) what guidance they have circulated to hospitals about that system, and (3) whether any such guidance states that all patients should be triaged based on care need rather than age.


Answered by
Lord Bethell Portrait
Lord Bethell
This question was answered on 21st January 2021

The National Health Service has repeatedly instructed staff that no patient who could benefit from treatment should be denied it. Clinicians are focused on assessing the individual needs of patients and providing the care that will benefit them best.


When issuing guidance on restoration of non-COVID-19 health services, NHS England instructed providers to make full use of available capacity whilst protecting the most vulnerable. Furthermore, throughout the pandemic, public health measures have protected our most vulnerable patients. For example, we have ensured care home residents and staff are protected, including testing all residents and staff, ring-fencing £1.1 billion for infection control and making a further £4.6 billion available to councils to address pressures caused by the pandemic.

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