Patients could die this winter because the NHS is alarmingly unprepared to deal with the surge of people who fall ill during the cold weather, hospital bosses warn today. Hospitals are so “dangerously short” of beds that they may be unable to cope with the coming winter, Chris Hopson, the organisation’s chief executive, told the Observer. It was 5.6% of beds at the end of 2016 and still 5.2% at the end of June, NHS figures show. On Friday, Gavin Boyle, the chief executive of Derby Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, wrote in his blog: “Without wanting to come over all Game of Thrones, winter is coming! Acuity, attendances and admissions have all stayed high,” said Nick Hulme, chief executive of Colchester Hospital University Foundation NHS Trust.

Source: The Guardian September 02, 2017 22:52 UTC