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Critical Shortage of Intensive Care Beds in London

Wed, 03/29/2000 - 1:00am — Karen Stevenson
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The UK Emergency Bed Service said there was not a single intensive care bed available in all of London several days this winter. The shortage meant that doctors had to make decisions about who got a bed and who would be transferred, sometimes to hospitals many miles away. People over age 75 filled 290 of the 500 intensive care beds in January, and part of the bed shortage was due to the fact that these older people could not be sent home until social services assessed their home conditions, which sometimes took several weeks.

London's senior officials are determined that the same thing should not happen again this winter, and a team, comprised of medical experts and lay people, has been set up to look at the entire chain of events. There is also hope that a new infusion of £2 billion to the budget of the National Health Service will help solve the problem.

The UK Emergency Bed Service said there was not a single intensive care bed available in all of London several days this winter. The shortage meant that doctors had to make decisions about who got a bed and who would be transferred, sometimes to hospitals many miles away. People over age 75 filled 290 of the 500 intensive care beds in January, and part of the bed shortage was due to the fact that these older people could not be sent home until social services assessed their home conditions, which sometimes took several weeks.

London's senior officials are determined that the same thing should not happen again this winter, and a team, comprised of medical experts and lay people, has been set up to look at the entire chain of events. There is also hope that a new infusion of £2 billion to the budget of the National Health Service will help solve the problem.