NHS: Hospital Beds

Earl of Listowel Excerpts

Thursday 6th December 2012 Lords Chamber

[Earl Howe]

My Lords, as I mentioned earlier, NHS underspends are not lost to the NHS—they can be carried forward from year to year. But on his central point, I should make it clear that we are struggling to reconcile the Dr Foster bed occupancy figures with those that we have. Dr Foster has stated that bed occupancy is at a dangerous level, at over 90% for 48 weeks of the year. We are looking closely at that analysis and methodology, but we cannot agree with those conclusions at the moment, given that the department monitors the position on a daily basis during the winter and on a quarterly basis at other times. However, I agree with the noble Lord that there are too many people in hospital. We need to ensure that we move more care into the community. I do not see this as insuperable within the current budgetary expenditure limits.

[The Earl of Listowel]

My Lords, I want to ask about community midwifery services and avoiding bed use by that means. Is the Minister aware of the great value to children in terms of outcomes of promoting a good relationship between midwives and parents, increasing the rate of breast-feeding and reducing episiotomies? In his reconfiguration, when he is thinking about not using so many bed spaces, will he recognise the value of local community midwifery services?

[Earl Howe]

Yes, my Lords. That is the precise reason why there are currently 5,000 midwives in training, which is a record number. The noble Earl is absolutely right to identify the midwifery service as key to enabling children to get a healthy start in life and parents to ensure that children get into good eating and exercise habits.