Written question asked by James McMurdock (Independent (affiliation)) on Wednesday, 25 February 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 2 March 2026. It was answered by Karin Smyth (Labour) on Friday, 13 March 2026 on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care.
Accident and Emergency Departments: Standards
- Question
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps is he taking to improve patient flow between emergency departments and inpatient wards.
- Answer
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Our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan set out steps 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 are aiming for 78% of patients to be seen in in four hours this year, meaning over 800,000 people will receive more timely care. Building on this, the NHS Medium-Term Planning Framework sets out a clear trajectory to improve urgent and emergency care performance year-on-year, reducing long waits and improving patient flow.
In February, we published guidance on the Model Emergency Department, setting out the core principles and pathways for high-performing emergency departments. The guidance includes a national model for extended emergency medicine ambulatory care and is intended to support faster decision-making across urgent and emergency care pathways, whilst strengthening whole-system responsibility for performance. This will improve patient experience and patient flow, with lower waiting times and less overcrowding.
Secondary information
- Type
- Written question
- Reference
- 115903
- Session
- 2024-26
- Subjects
- Hospital wards Patients Standards Accident and emergency departments
- Link
- View this Written question on www.parliament.uk
Librarians' tools
- Timestamp
- 2026-03-13 10:34:55 +0000
- URI
- http://data.parliament.uk/writtenparliamentaryquestion/commons/2024-26/115903
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- http://indexing.parliament.uk/Content/Edit/1?uri=http://data.parliament.uk/writtenparliamentaryquestion/commons/2024-26/115903
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- https://search.parliament.uk/claw/solr/?id=http://data.parliament.uk/writtenparliamentaryquestion/commons/2024-26/115903