Paul3446

When they came to power there were 199,000 beds, there are now 167,000.

The Patients Association have called it a national scandal.

Also, the overcrowding has been found to be causing superbug outbreaks.

Good to see that the ludicrous amount of money that Labour have thrown at the NHS haven't been wasted then!

BargainGirl

So say the Tories ...................

What they fail to mention is that 125,000 PRIVATE Beds have been bought for NHS Patients to secure a decent/better/improved Health Service.

We can all play with figures to suit.

Paul3446

I'm surprised the Patients Association didn't mention that there were actually 93,000 extra beds, but I will stand corrected once you post the link to these figures.

Snazy

And........... unlike the unemployed, they have not just been renamed to lower the figures

Paul3446

Perhaps they've renamed the 32,000 beds to "Patient Reclining Modules".

Snazy

Inpatient retention device actually

boomer

Is that BEDS or bed-DAYS????

Dividing by 365 will shrink your figure a tad!

Dunno the hard facts, but a quick search shows that General Healthcare Group is the largest independent private provider in the UK only provide 2600 beds!

...or are you counting hostels, taxis, park benches as well

mb

warrenm2

Usually the lefty fools will leap on here and blindly defend this Gvmt, however it has to be said in fairness this figure in itself is not that meaningful. For example, what if keyhole surgury had been rolled out on a large scale, ensuring that people could go home sooner and hence fewer beds were NEEDED, hence theyve cut costs. In that case this would be a good thing.

Not saying this is what has happened, just that the bald figure on its own doesnt actually allow you to draw any conclusions

Paul3446

I agree that it is only a headline figure, but you would think that with all the money spent, the amount of beds would not have gone down!

If there were no waiting lists and beds were sitting empty then fair enough.

Leslie

The obvious solution of course is to double the capacity by having two to a bed!

It could happen, one to sleep by day and the other by night!!!

Les

SJ_Skyline

Les, you are very close to the truth mate. After an extensive search, I've found documentary evidence of the government's policy for hospital beds here

Leslie

Haha, good one Skyline. That brought a few childhood memories back too!

Les