NHS: Bed Capacity Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department of Health and Social Care
Lord Geddes
Main Page: Lord Geddes (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)Department Debates - View all Lord Geddes's debates with the Department of Health and Social Care
(10 years, 9 months ago)
Lords ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Earl Howe
I agree with the principle that the noble Lord has articulated. Certainly, commissioners and providers of care should reduce beds only where it is clinically safe and appropriate to do so. The NHS is very experienced at flexing the number of beds it has available; it does this every year and every winter. As a principle, I would agree with the noble Lord but I come back to the point that bed occupancy rates have, in fact, remained stable over the past 10 years, fluctuating between 84% and 88% on average, and increasing slightly over the winter period.
Lord Geddes (Con)
My Lords, further to the question from my noble friend Lady Barker, is it mandatory for the NHS to advise next of kin before discharging frail patients?