More than 8,400 beds were cut in the year ending March 2007, the largest fall in 14 years. One in six beds has been closed over the decade. There are now 167,019 beds in NHS wards, compared with 198,848 in 1997.

There is an argument for reducing the number of beds. Part of it is that doctors now believe that the long times in hospital that used to take place - after childbirth for example - were unnecessary and even undesirable for the patient. However it is hard to doubt that the massive drop in bed numbers that has taken place since the creation of the NHS goes beyond what would be suggested by improved medical treatment and revised theory on how long one should stay in bed.

Hospitals ought not to be working near to capacity. They ought to have spare capacity so that new arrivals can be admitted quickly and can be treated promptly. For many years, the NHS has been working too close to capacity. What is dismaying is that despite all the extra money spent by the Labour government since 1997 that this is still the case. The system is not working. The NHS does not just lack money. It is a bad system that causes suffering and unnecessary deaths despite the sometimes heroic devotion of those in the front line.

The full article on Labour's bed closures is here.

Posted by James Bartholomew • Indexed in NHS

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