The reason A&E staff are struggling to find beds is that the beds aren’t there any more, writes Denis Beaumont
You report that “A&E staff have struggled to find beds for patients because the hospital has run out of space as a result of Covid-19, because of an inability to discharge patients who are medically fit to leave, or due to the record demand for care” (NHS patients dying in back of ambulances stuck outside A&E, report says, 14 November). Aren’t you missing the elephant in the room? The reason A&E staff are struggling to find beds is that the beds aren’t there any more. When the Conservatives came to power in 2010 there were 169,681 hospital beds in the UK. By 2020 the Tories had slashed that to 131,795. Hospitals aren’t coping because the Tories are destroying the NHS.
Denis Beaumont
Wombourne, Staffordshire
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