Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many beds there were at (a) Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust and (b) Shropshire Community Health Trust in each year between 2015 and 2023; and what targets there is for the number of beds at each trust in winter 2023-24.
Answered by Will Quince
The average number of beds at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust (SaTH) in 2015 to -2023 is shown in the table below.
Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust | |
Year | Total average General & Acute Beds per year |
2015/16 | 715 |
2016/17 | 729 |
2017/18 | 650 |
2018/19 | 665 |
2019/20 | 706 |
2020/21 | 691 |
2021/22 | 725 |
2022/23 | 759 |
2023/24 YTD | 773 |
Source: NHS England
The NHS Shropshire Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care Board is planning to create an additional 52 sub-acute beds on the SaTH footprint by this winter. That will enable the trust to increase patient flow through its General and Acute bed base.
The information is not available in the format requested for Shropshire Community Health Trust (SCHT). SCHT is not planning any change to its bed base in 2023/24.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce the number of (a) children and (b) young adults placed on adult psychiatric wards.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We recognise that for some young people, admission to hospital will not be the most appropriate way to meet their needs. The overall strategy is therefore to reduce reliance on inpatient mental health beds for children and young people with a severe mental illness.
The model of provision of National Health Service-funded inpatient treatment for children and young people is being reviewed and re-designed to support the move to a community-based provision, where children and young people are able to access appropriate support in a timely, effective and patient-centred way, close to home and in the least restrictive environment.
This transition is being supported by the introduction of provider collaboratives to support place-based commissioning and to develop local services that meet the needs of their communities. Options may include increased day provision and the new model will see a change to how inpatient environments are best utilised.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what detailed (a) health and (b) security checks and screening processes will be in place before persons are located to the Wethersfield site.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Those arriving in small boats are first taken to facilities in Dover where searches and medical checks are undertaken.
Full border security checks are later completed at Manston before anyone leaves the site. We capture biometric data which is checked and compared against relevant Home Office systems and police databases, including international databases, so we can establish whether the person is a threat to public safety. If they fail, nobody proceeds further.
At Manston, all asylum seekers are offered diphtheria vaccines and antibiotics upon arrival. The Home Office provides 24/7 health facilities at Manston, including trained medical staff and a doctor for all those on site. All asylum seekers undergo a health check upon arrival and, if needed, people are taken to hospital for further care.
A specialist and experienced security provider will be working on site 24/7, with provisions such as mobile CCTV units. We have worked closely with local police forces and MoD teams to ensure appropriate security arrangements are in place.
The Home Office has committed substantial funding to help minimise the impact on local communities and services. This includes 24/7 security, on-site catering, basic healthcare and transport provision for those accommodated on site. The government currently provides £3,500 to local authorities for new and occupied dispersal beds. This £3,500 funding for local authorities will be extended to the sites at Wethersfield. The safety and security of the local communities, the staff and those accommodated on the site are of the utmost importance.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Markham on 21 June (HL7941, HL7942 and HL7945), how they define "bed equivalents from patient flow initiatives".
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England defines bed equivalents as beds freed up through steps taken to avoid an admission to a general and acute bed in hospital, or to support a patient to leave a general and acute bed when they are medically fit to do so. This could include for example capacity within virtual wards or hospital at home schemes.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
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.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
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.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
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 now available for patients.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
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.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of the total numbers of new NHS beds have been outsourced to private healthcare providers.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
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.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what avenues for new capital funding are available for the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Will Quince
We are investing over £9 billion in the National Health Service this year to deliver significant new capacity, including through additional beds, community diagnostic centres, surgical hubs, discharge facilities, hospital upgrades and new hospitals.
As the vast majority of funding has already been allocated to individual schemes within these programmes, any new schemes will be considered through a new rolling capital investment programme, that will allow for the construction of more hospitals in the long term.
In the meantime, NHS Trusts should continue to engage with their Integrated Care System to help consider whether there is scope to prioritise schemes within local investment plans.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of NHS bed capacity in each month (a) since January 2023 and (B) until January 2024.
Answered by Will Quince
Information on National Health Service bed capacity is published by NHS England. The following table shows the general and acute (G&A) beds available and G&A bed occupancy rate from January 2023 to April 2023.
Month | Total G&A beds available | G&A bed occupancy rate |
January 2023 | 101,717 | 94.1% |
February 2023 | 101,092 | 94.1% |
March 2023 | 100,910 | 93.9% |
April 2023 | 100,088 | 92.4% |
Our delivery plan for recovering urgent and emergency care services has set a national ambition to increase bed capacity by 5,000 staffed, permanent beds in 2023/24 compared to 2022/23 plans. The plan is backed by £1 billion of dedicated funding to support capacity.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department's Delivery plan for recovering urgent and emergency care services, published on 30 January 2023, what progress his Department has made on its target to create 5,000 emergency care beds.
Answered by Will Quince
We are continuing to make progress to deliver the 5,000 staffed, permanent beds set out in our Urgent and Emergency Care Recovery Plan, supported by £1 billion of additional funding. NHS England has worked with integrated care boards to review local demand and capacity and ensure plans are put in place to deliver the increases to National Health Service capacity needed to deliver this ambition.