Question follow-through · 121985

Patients: Missing Persons

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance is available to (a) hospitals, (b) healthcare settings and (c) healthcare staff in (i) preventing and (ii) responding to incidents of patients going missing.

answeredDepartment of Health and Social Care

About this written question

A written question asks a government minister for information in writing. Parliament publishes the question and any answer.

Answering body
Department of Health and Social Care
Tabled
18 Mar 2026
Target answer date
23 Mar 2026
Answer
16 Apr 2026 · 29 calendar days after tabling

Elapsed calendar days describe the record timeline, not whether Parliament considers an answer on time.

More questions by this MP on Health and care

Shared topic keywords suggest a connection; they do not establish a follow-up.

Votes on this topic

These Commons divisions share a topic label. The question did not necessarily lead to a vote.

Recorded timeline

  1. 18 Mar 2026

    Question tabled

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance is available to (a) hospitals, (b) healthcare settings and (c) healthcare staff in (i) preventing and (ii) responding to incidents of patients going missing.

  2. 23 Mar 2026

    Target answer date

    Date supplied by the official written-questions record.

  3. 16 Apr 2026

    Answer published

    The Department does not hold a national figure for the number of people reported missing from hospitals or other healthcare settings in 2024/25 or in 2025/26.Clear guidance is in place to support hospitals, other healthcare settings, and staff in preventi...

Open official record

Official data retrieved 28 Sept 2026.

Later records

Possible follow-up questions

Strong links require the same MP, department and exact heading. Other same-department questions are shown as unreviewed candidates, not as confirmed follow-ups. No debate link is asserted unless a stable source relationship exists.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Cancer: Children and Young People

26 Mar 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his planned timetable is for bringing the cancer travel fund for children and young people into effect.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Hydrocortisone

13 Apr 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to (a) ensure that people with adrenal insufficiency have timely access to appropriate emergency steroid treatment and (b) prevent avoidable adrenal crises when

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Eating Disorders: Health Services

29 May 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of NHS England’s Workforce Training and Education Directorate in planning and commissioning training for eating disorder services, particularly whol