Patients: Safety
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how his Department guarantee safe services for patients when a Hospital Trust is regularly at OPEL 4.
Answered by Karin Smyth
The National Health Service’s operational pressures escalation levels (OPEL) framework provides a standardised approach to support an effective, integrated, and coordinated response to acute trust operational pressures. This includes the actions locally, regionally, and nationally that support the depressurising of services and ensure patient safety. Further information about the OPEL framework is published by NHS England at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/integrated-opel-framework-2024-to-2026/
NHS England’s national operations team actively monitors escalations and maintains oversight of organisations at OPEL Escalation Level 4. Where specific support is required, NHS England can enact collaboration with national subject matter experts, regional teams, and external agencies to adapt national policy or provide targeted intervention.
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