Hospital bed cutbacks have gone too far, NHS England boss says

Hospital bed cutbacks have gone too far, NHS England boss says Policy has left hospitals unable to cope with rise in patient numbers, Simon Stevens says

Shutting beds has left hospitals unable to cope with the growing number of patients needing care and needs to stop, the head of the NHS has admitted.

In a surprise U-turn, Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, said the policy had gone too far and that hospital beds had become “overly pressurised” as a result of years of closures. The Guardian