Hospital's are short of beds, short of staff

The number of hospital beds available has been dropping for decades.

Shortage of beds is compounded by shortage of staff. The Parliamentary Health Select Committee reported in July 2013

• Only 17% of emergency departments were able to provide 16 hours of Consultant cover in a working day, and even worse than that during weekends.
• "Emergency staffing at all levels is under strain and a 50% fill rate of trainees is now resulting in a shortfall of senior trainees and future consultants"