Hospital beds at record low in England as NHS struggles with demand

Hospital beds at record low in England as NHS struggles with demand The number of hospital beds has fallen to its lowest level ever, despite the head of the NHS warning that bed closures have gone too far.

The health service in England has cut so many beds in recent years that it has just 127,225 left to cope with the rising demand for care, which will intensify as winter starts to bite.

In total, 17,230 beds have been cut from the 144,455 that existed in April-June 2010, the period when the coalition Conservative/Liberal Democrat government took office and imposed a nine-year funding squeeze on the NHS, even though critics cautioned against it because of growing pressures on the service. The Guardian