Commenting on today’s figures showing a 12% drop in the number of NHS hospital beds in Wales since 1999, Shadow Health Minister Andrew RT Davies AM said:
“These figures reinforce our worst-held fears that the capacity within NHS hospitals has decreased significantly over the last decade. This is a particular worry given that bed occupancy has risen over the same period.
“Under Labour, and now with Plaid Cymru, hundreds of NHS hospital beds have been axed across Wales. This lack of capacity has a direct impact on the ongoing problem of delayed transfers of care and ambulance response times.
“The Assembly Government is failing to ensure capacity meets demand. This failure is felt even more acutely at this time of year when winter pressures put the NHS under even greater strain.
“Previous and planned bed cuts have had damaging consequences for patient treatment and after-care. They also make it increasingly difficult for medical staff to hit government targets when there are fewer places to care for patients during their stay in hospital.”
