Hospital chiefs ‘short of space, beds and staff ’

Health bosses claim a lack of resources will leave them unable to cope amid growing social care crisis

EIGHT IN every 10 hospital chief executives fear their wards will be unable to cope within a year, amid a growing social care crisis.

A damning report published today says most of those running NHS trusts are worried about short-staffing and a lack of investment in services to keep the elderly out of hospital.

Six in 10 trust chiefs and chairmen said that a lack of doctors and nurses is endangering decent patient care, with almost 100,000 staff vacancies across the NHS.

And 80 per cent of those running hospitals said they feared they would not be able to cope with demand within the next 12 months.

The report by NHS Providers, which represents trusts, warned of deteriorating performance across hospitals, with key targets repeatedly missed. And it says that the health service is facing mounting demand because of a lack of investment in social care services to look after elderly and disabled patients outside of hospital.

Nine in 10 trust chief executives said they were worried about a lack of investment in such services locally.

Chief executives of hospitals warned of “massive growth” in demand for services, warning that they are running out of space, beds, and staff.

The poll of chief executives and chairmen at 112 trusts found widespread concern that the public was not aware of the challenges facing the NHS.

And the report calls for “renewed political commitment to ensuring a sustainable social care system”.

In his first speech as Prime Minister, Boris Johnson pledged to fix the social care crisis “once and for all”. He has announced plans to spend £2.7billion on six hospitals over five years.

Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, said: “It is very striking that more than 90 per cent of trust leaders are worried that there hasn’t been the full, frank and open national conversation about the severe pressures facing the NHS.

“The NHS faces a triple whammy of rapidly rising demand, severe workforce challenges and the need to recover from the longest and deepest funding squeeze in NHS history. Current performance levels are the worst in a decade and trying to work NHS staff harder and harder is simply not sustainable.”

One trust chief executive said: “We have seen massive growth in demand over the past year (18 per cent elective referrals, 11 per cent Accident & Emergency) and it is not slowing down.

“Estate issues are a particular concern as we have now run out of space.

“Workforce is the other concern as we cannot grow our staffing levels fast enough to keep pace with demand either,” the trust chief added.