Northerner
Admin (Retired)
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Hospitals are "full to bursting" in England, creating a potentially dangerous environment for patients, an analysis by experts suggests.
Hospitals should run at about 85% capacity to give them room to cope with surges in demand, and figures show the NHS average hovering around that mark.
But analysts Dr Foster said the figure was skewed by quiet periods and rose higher if they were stripped out.
Ministers denied the NHS is overcrowded and said it could manage demand peaks.
According to the analysis, if only midweek figures are taken into account, the average capacity figure for 2011-12 was 88%.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20556094
Hospitals should run at about 85% capacity to give them room to cope with surges in demand, and figures show the NHS average hovering around that mark.
But analysts Dr Foster said the figure was skewed by quiet periods and rose higher if they were stripped out.
Ministers denied the NHS is overcrowded and said it could manage demand peaks.
According to the analysis, if only midweek figures are taken into account, the average capacity figure for 2011-12 was 88%.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20556094