Beds

I wondered initially if I would be able to find enough to write about to keep this going but I find I have more than I can keep up with and so will have to prioritise.

Perhaps the most pressing and worrying is in this article from todays Times. To put these suggested cuts in bed numbers into perspective I have done a little digging into the trend over the years. These are the number of NHS beds in England only, in thousands since 1974.

1974 396

1989 270

1997 199

2007 167

2009 160

?2011 130

What are the consequences of these cuts. As far back as 1999 it was estimated that 57000 operations were cancelled on the day of surgery for non medical reasons. In 2008 it was reported (admittedly in the Daily Mail) that in one 28 day period 150000 over 75s had to be readmitted within 28 days of discharge.

Whatever the figures I think all of us can vouch for the problem. I have personally seen surgical patients kept in recovery all night post operatively because no ward bed was available. The situation is inevitably going to get worse.