Ward beds crisis now looming as demand up

THE demand for hospital beds has swollen 90-fold since 2019, while the number available has gone up by just 2%.

- MARTIN BAGOT

The shocking figures come from the Royal College of Nursing as the NHS faces a corridor care crisis this Christmas.

A collapse in community care has resulted in more people needing beds, said the RCN. It cited NHS data showing that during the buildup to winter 2019 - the last before Covid - the number of people waiting more than 12 hours for a bed in A&E after a decision to admit them was 1,281.