7,000 HOSPITAL BEDS ARE LOST UNDER TORIES
THOUSANDS of spaces in NHS hospital beds have been lost during six years of Conservative rule, official figures show.
There are now 101,589 acute hospital beds, 7,301 fewer than in 2010.
And it is feared planned £20billion NHS savings in the next five years will mean even more beds are closed.
The crisis is made worse by the rising population and the failure of care in the community to help the elderly at home.
The UK already has one of the lowest levels of hospital beds in the EU, 2.8 per thousand people compared with 8.6 in Germany and 6.2 in France.
Yesterday ex health minister Norman Lamb said the Government should be “ashamed” and urged Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt “stop hiding” and tackle the NHS’s financial problems. This week overflowing A&Es were brought “to their on a ward there, who was recovering from surgery, was found hanged.
Thousands more beds are expected to be shed across the country with plans to close as many as 20 A&E departments over the next two years.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: “The crisis in our NHS is unprecedented. Hospitals have had to close their doors, unable to admit patients.”
He added: “The health service is at breaking point.”
Royal College of Emergency Medicine president Dr Taj Hassan said: “The emergency care system is on its knees.”
But an NHS England spokesman said the length of hospital stays has fallen in the past ten years with many more patients admitted for less than two days.
In contrast, Scotland is spending £ 471million on new health facilities, including two new hospital buildings.