Knee-jerk Bed Closures Would Be Disastrous - BMA Response To Reform Report

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 18 Mar 2010 - 1:00 PDT


Commenting on the Reform report, "Fewer Hospitals, more competition", Dr Mark Porter, Chairman of the BMA's Consultants Committee, said:

"Bed occupancy rates are already very high in the NHS, which is a principal cause of hospital-acquired infection. Cutting beds for purely financial reasons would be immoral and catastrophic for patient care.

"There can and should be reconfiguration of services when it is driven by the needs of patients, and the professional advice of clinicians. Some of these will result in changes to bed numbers. But the idea that service changes should be carried out quickly, that they can automatically improve quality, and that capacity in the primary care sector can immediately increase to cope with such changes, is nonsense. It is also bizarre to argue for more competition given the amounts of public money that have been wasted as a result of private sector involvement in the NHS, and the cost and bureaucracy associated with the market.

"Reform argues that we should spend less on the NHS, but most taxpayers are proud of the NHS and believe healthcare should remain one of the country's highest priorities."

Source
British Medical Association

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