In 1948 Labour's Aneurin Bevan established the National Health Service to provide free, state-run, health care for all, a crucial part of the welfare state. Every winter, bed shortages in the NHS provoke a spate of stories about a worsening 'crisis'. This year is no exception. On Sunday, it was reported that there were fewer than 30 emergency hospital beds free across the entire country. Lurid accounts of chaotic emergency wards and crammed morgues abound.
Hospitals now operate at close to full capacity.
The shortage of emergency beds can be traced to a lack of money and related 'efficiency savings'. There are broadly three theories. First, the government blames the bed shortages and cancelled operations on the current outbreak of flu , which they say has reached epidemic proportions, a claim refuted by the Birmingham research unit which collates flu figures. It is echoed by many doctors in the NHS and by Stephen Thornton, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, who has called for more funding to stop the same problems recurring next year. The NHS is deep in debt.