FOR years, Welsh Conservative Senedd members have been saying that too many hospital beds have been closed in Wales. The Welsh Labour Government, which has run the Welsh NHS since 1999, has closed 30 per cent of hospital beds over this period.
What are the results? People left on trolleys in A&E departments because there are no beds for them while, outside, ambulances stack up with sick people on board that they are unable to discharge. In the meantime, people who have fallen or who have suffered a suspected stroke or heart attack, are left waiting for hours for ambulances to arrive. It is an unrelenting downward spiral which is costing lives.
This situation existed long before Covid in Wales. Vindication of the stance taken by myself and colleagues has come in the form of a report from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine. This says that the NHS in the UK needs 13,000 more beds in order to break out of this vicious circle. They blame too few beds for many of the problems now being felt in the health service.
Welsh Labour needs to get a grip and reverse the policy of axing beds as a first step.