BMJ  2006;332:363 (11 February), doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7537.363-a

Letter

Turning round NHS deficits

Who says there are surplus hospital beds?

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—Ham's editorial is a clear summary of the NHS's current financial plight.¹ However, in his fourth paragraph he illustrates a gulf between health economic and medical thinking.

There seems to be a specific belief in health economic circles that there is overprovision of beds in acute hospital settings. As a doctor I do not share this belief.

When I admit acutely ill patients I see no evidence of oversupply of acute beds. Instead I am often asked to delay the admission or deflect it to the accident and emergency department first. The psychiatrist tells me that he can admit patients only if they are homicidal or suicidal. The phenomenon known as bed blocking does not speak of overprovision of care in hospital, intermediate, or residential care settings.

All these examples speak of lack. I challenge Ham to show me which patient specifically is currently being overprovided for in . . . [Full text of this article]

Keighley Road Surgery, Halifax HX2 9LL npgdavies@blueyonder.co.uk

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    StumbleUpon    Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Articles

Turning around NHS deficits

Chris Ham
BMJ 2006 332: 131-132. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Gold for the NHS

Brian Campbell and Peter Davies
BMJ 2002 325: 101. [Extract] [Full Text]

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

Evidence suggests capacity is badly managed...

stephen black
bmj.com, 14 Feb 2006 [Full text]

Reply to Stephen Black

Peter G. Davies
bmj.com, 16 Feb 2006 [Full text]

how can reducing admissions save money

john sharvill
bmj.com, 17 Feb 2006 [Full text]

Online poll

Find out more >>