Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the commitment by the then Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Thérèse Coffey on 22 September 2022 (HC Deb, col 830), how many of the promised 7,000 new NHS beds are classified as virtual ward or hospital at home beds.

As of March 2023, NHS England had delivered an additional 7,820 beds or bed equivalents. Of these, 4,805 were general and acute beds and community beds, 628 were virtual ward beds and 2,387 were bed equivalents from patient flow initiatives. The additional general and acute beds delivered are beds in National Health Service hospitals.

NHS England does not hold the number of outsourced beds. Systems may commission private providers for the provision of step down intermediate care capacity outside of hospital either on a spot purchase or block purchase basis.