Lack of suitable beds traps patients on wards

SIR – As a senior, full-time NHS surgeon, I was pleased to hear of Jeremy Hunt’s revised responsibilities in the Cabinet (Leading article, January 13), as well as the idea of a 10-year plan for the NHS.

However, the steady reduction in acute bed provision – currently down to approximately 2.6 beds per 1,000 people, according to OECD figures – has been only partly responsible for causing our ambulances and casualty departments to overflow, and our elective surgical activity to be brought to a standstill this winter.

Doctors and nurses, however plentiful they are, need beds to treat patients. To use expensive acute beds for less intensive, middle and late phases of treatment, let alone allowing them to be blocked by those waiting for care packages at home, seems financially irresponsible.

My plea is to consider the potential role of community hospitals in resolving this shortfall. These onceprized assets have been sold off over the years.

Any 10-year plan for the NHS must provide cheaper, seasonal and local beds for intermediate care, allowing GPS, relatives, volunteers, therapists, social workers, and part-time and agency nurses to work together in one location until patients are indeed genuinely fit to return home. Robin K Strachan

London W4