Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of A&E waiting times on post-discharge outcomes for older patients.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made of the impacts of accident and emergency waiting times on post-discharge outcomes. There have been studies on the impact of waiting times on clinical outcomes in general, which inform the targets the National Health Service sets for accident and emergency waiting times.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to publish data on cases where patients deteriorate or die in Accident and Emergency waiting rooms before being seen by a doctor.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This data is not available in the format requested and there is no plan to publish this. Patients are reviewed at the front door and are seen by a clinical member of staff and streamed to the right service for them. If there is an incident around care processes, this is logged.
The National Health Service and the Department have taken significant steps forward to improve patient safety, including by implementing significant programmes under the NHS Patient Safety Strategy from 2019.
We are also introducing new clinical operational standards for the first 72 hours of care, setting clear expectations for timely reviews and specialist input, including guidance on monitoring patients with frailty. This supports the early identification of deterioration and helps ensure patients waiting in accident and emergency departments are appropriately monitored.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of violence prevention measures in accident and emergency departments; and what steps she is taking to help improve the safety of NHS staff working in A&E settings.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Everyone working in the National Health Service has a fundamental right to be safe at work, including those working in accident and emergency settings providing rapid and critical care.
Individual employers are responsible for the health and safety of their staff, and they put in place measures, including, security, training, and emotional support for staff affected by violence.
In April 2025, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, announced that the Social Partnership Forum’s recommendations on tackling and reducing violence, part of the 2023 Agenda for Change pay deal, had been accepted in full. This includes measures to improve data and reporting, strengthen risk assessment, and improve training and support for victims. This will be bolstered by the introduction of a new set of staff standards, as detailed in the 10-Year Health Plan.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate his Department has made of ambulance handover times at accident and emergency departments in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Surrey Heath is served by the South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SECAMB). The most recent National Health Service performance figures show that the average handover time in SECAMB is 18 minutes and 37 seconds. This is over two minutes faster than the same period last year.
Our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26 sets out clear actions to deliver improvements this winter and make services better every day, including reducing ambulance handovers to a maximum of 45 minutes, helping get more ambulances back on the road for patients, and reducing category 2 ambulance response times to 30 minutes on average. NHS England continues to monitor average hospital handover times, sharing data with regions to support focussed discussions and identify improvement actions with those trusts not achieving handovers in 45 minutes.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his Department's policies of the analysis by Age UK on A&E wait times, published on 21 January 2026.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Age UK’s analysis reinforces the need to reduce crowding, tackle the longest waits and corridor care, and improve care for older people, all priorities for the Government.
Through the Urgent and Emergency Care Plan and the NHS Medium Term Planning Framework, we are expanding urgent community response and same day care, improving hospital flow and strengthening services for frail and older people to ensure they receive timely, appropriate care in the right setting. We are also committed to tackling corridor care and will soon start publishing data on its prevalence for the first time, following work by NHS England with trusts since 2024 to put in place new reporting arrangements. This data will help to drive improvement and transparency. Where corridor care cannot be avoided, we have published updated guidance to support trusts to deliver it safely, ensuring dignity and privacy is maintained to reduce impacts on patients and staff.
NHS England is also running the National Frailty Improvement Collaborative, which is focussed on testing and learning how to deliver evidence-based, frailty attuned care and shift appropriate care from hospital to community settings. This work will generate insights to inform national policy and planning and will improve outcomes for older people living with frailty.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with the NHS in South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency on patient safety for people experiencing long waits in Accident and Emergency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that urgent and emergency care performance has fallen short in recent years. We are committed to restoring accident and emergency waiting times to the National Health Service constitutional standard.
Our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26 sets out clear actions to deliver improvements and make services better. The plan commits to reducing the number of patients waiting over 12 hours for admission or discharge to less than 10% of the time. This is supported by almost £450 million of capital investment for Same Day Emergency Care, Mental Health Crisis Assessment Centres, and new ambulances, avoiding unnecessary admissions to hospital and supporting the faster diagnosis, treatment, and discharge for patients.
The NHS Medium-Term Planning Framework sets out a further trajectory to improve urgent and emergency care performance year-on-year toward the constitutional standard, reducing long waits and improving patient experience. The plan focuses on practical steps such as expanding urgent treatment centres, improving patient flow, and reducing 12-hour waits, to make emergency departments safer and more efficient.
NHS England provides regional oversight to support local delivery of services and improvement. The Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust’s One Team Improvement Plan has a focus on improving urgent and emergency care outcomes. The programme group looking at quality and patient safety has been focusing on reviewing processes and the fundamentals of care in wards and in the trust’s emergency departments. The trust has also introduced additional consultant cover during the weekends to increase the number of people discharged at the weekend. This helps to keep the emergency department safe as it allows for the movement of people who need to be admitted into the right beds.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 help improve triaging by Accident and Emergency departments at Basildon Hospital.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that urgent and emergency care performance has fallen short in recent years. We are committed to restoring accident and emergency waiting times to the National Health Service constitutional standard.
Our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26 sets out clear actions to deliver improvements and make services better. The plan commits to reducing the number of patients waiting over 12 hours for admission or discharge to less than 10% of the time. This is supported by almost £450 million of capital investment for Same Day Emergency Care, Mental Health Crisis Assessment Centres, and new ambulances, avoiding unnecessary admissions to hospital and supporting the faster diagnosis, treatment, and discharge for patients.
The NHS Medium-Term Planning Framework sets out a further trajectory to improve urgent and emergency care performance year-on-year toward the constitutional standard, reducing long waits and improving patient experience. The plan focuses on practical steps such as expanding urgent treatment centres, improving patient flow, and reducing 12-hour waits, to make emergency departments safer and more efficient.
NHS England provides regional oversight to support local delivery of services and improvement. The Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust’s One Team Improvement Plan has a focus on improving urgent and emergency care outcomes. The programme group looking at quality and patient safety has been focusing on reviewing processes and the fundamentals of care in wards and in the trust’s emergency departments. The trust has also introduced additional consultant cover during the weekends to increase the number of people discharged at the weekend. This helps to keep the emergency department safe as it allows for the movement of people who need to be admitted into the right beds.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 help reduce the number of patients waiting over 12 hours to be admitted to, or discharged from, Basildon Hospital’s Accident and Emergency Department.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that urgent and emergency care performance has fallen short in recent years. We are committed to restoring accident and emergency waiting times to the National Health Service constitutional standard.
Our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26 sets out clear actions to deliver improvements and make services better. The plan commits to reducing the number of patients waiting over 12 hours for admission or discharge to less than 10% of the time. This is supported by almost £450 million of capital investment for Same Day Emergency Care, Mental Health Crisis Assessment Centres, and new ambulances, avoiding unnecessary admissions to hospital and supporting the faster diagnosis, treatment, and discharge for patients.
The NHS Medium-Term Planning Framework sets out a further trajectory to improve urgent and emergency care performance year-on-year toward the constitutional standard, reducing long waits and improving patient experience. The plan focuses on practical steps such as expanding urgent treatment centres, improving patient flow, and reducing 12-hour waits, to make emergency departments safer and more efficient.
NHS England provides regional oversight to support local delivery of services and improvement. The Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust’s One Team Improvement Plan has a focus on improving urgent and emergency care outcomes. The programme group looking at quality and patient safety has been focusing on reviewing processes and the fundamentals of care in wards and in the trust’s emergency departments. The trust has also introduced additional consultant cover during the weekends to increase the number of people discharged at the weekend. This helps to keep the emergency department safe as it allows for the movement of people who need to be admitted into the right beds.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment has been made of whether accident and emergency departments have sufficient capacity to meet current levels of patient demand in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On data on corridor care, NHS England has been working with trusts since 2024 to put in place new reporting arrangements to drive improvement and transparency. We are now reviewing the data internally and will begin publishing it shortly.
On services in Surrey Heath, residents there primarily access urgent and emergency care services at Frimley Park Hospital, which is run by the Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust within the NHS Frimley Integrated Care Board footprint.
NHS Frimley has implemented winter urgent and emergency care plans to manage increased demand, including maintaining patient flow, expanding same-day emergency care, strengthening community and primary care alternatives, and working with local authorities and community providers to support timely discharge.
We keep performance in all local systems under regular review through established daily operational oversight and escalation arrangements, with patient safety remaining the overriding priority.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate has been made of the number of patients waiting for extended periods in corridors in accident and emergency departments in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On data on corridor care, NHS England has been working with trusts since 2024 to put in place new reporting arrangements to drive improvement and transparency. We are now reviewing the data internally and will begin publishing it shortly.
On services in Surrey Heath, residents there primarily access urgent and emergency care services at Frimley Park Hospital, which is run by the Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust within the NHS Frimley Integrated Care Board footprint.
NHS Frimley has implemented winter urgent and emergency care plans to manage increased demand, including maintaining patient flow, expanding same-day emergency care, strengthening community and primary care alternatives, and working with local authorities and community providers to support timely discharge.
We keep performance in all local systems under regular review through established daily operational oversight and escalation arrangements, with patient safety remaining the overriding priority.