Cut NHS bed numbers to improve services, says thinktank

The NHS should cut around a quarter of its hospital beds in some areas in order to save money and improve the delivery of care, a thinktank has said.

Reform noted that in the past 20 years, the health service has reduced hospital beds from 270,000 to 160,000. It called for further cuts, particularly in areas with the highest concentrations of beds like London, the north-west and the north-east, to reconfigure services away from hospital-based treatment towards improving the quality of life for people with long-term conditions and bringing down disability. Lowering bed numbers would also cut costs and Reform said that the NHS "should not be immune from the drive to reduce public spending".

The thinktank criticised MPs and ministers for their "reluctance" to support the reconfiguration of local health services and urged central government to give more power to Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) to allow them to make alterations in their own area.  "Real innovation will come from reforming the frontline, not simply driving change from the centre," it said.

However, Dr Mark Porter, chairman of the consultant's committee at trade union the British Medical Association, rejected Reform's proposals. "Cutting beds for purely financial reasons would be immoral and catastrophic for patient care," he claimed.

Toby Lovern, PA Consulting Group healthcare expert says, "Reform’s key recommendation of reducing over-provision of acute bed spaces is highly contentious and understandably elicits concern from the public. The scope for further reductions in beds needs to be seen in the context of the significant innovations made in medical practices and technologies which have contributed to the major improvements in healthcare delivered over the last 10 years.

These same innovations enable ongoing reconfiguration of NHS services and greater use of community settings that are more convenient for patients and care-givers. Health professionals and the NHS need to work harder at explaining the improvements in healthcare that have already been achieved. They also need to help patients to understand the benefits arising from services being delivered closer to homes and places of work."

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