Select committee: Public Services Committee
Conclusion 1
2nd Report - Emergency healthcare: a national emergency
Published 19 Jan 2023
Paragraph 13
Public Services Committee Access to emergency services All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
The state of emergency healthcare is a national emergency. The substantial delays that patients face when trying to access emergency health services create considerable emotional distress and an unprecedented clinical risk.
From: Public Services Committee, 2nd Report - Emergency healthcare: a national emergency, paragraph 13, 19 January 2023
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 24 March 2023 (deadline 19 March 2023).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government sets out its recovery plan for urgent and emergency care in response to the committee, agreeing on some recommendations while not agreeing to a COBR referral or the committee's view of NICE.
- It does not agree to refer the state of urgent and emergency care to a COBR committee, stating that DHSC and NHS England have "established functions to tackle issues within the health system".
- It agrees with the recommendation to establish functional mechanisms to share good practice, and says NHS England will establish a programme to reduce unwarranted variation "By April 2023".
- On the Hewitt review, the Department "will carefully consider the findings of this review, and plan next steps accordingly". It describes accountability arrangements as "clearly set out in legislation".
- It does not agree that NICE "is not performing" its function of evaluating and sharing best practice, though it says the Government and NICE recognise areas where it can develop and improve.