by Workingman » 07 Jan 2025, 19:35
I am with Saundra re management.
This is largely due to the introduction of the internal market or "Trusts" in 1990. All this did was duplicate management functions. Where we once had Regional Health Authorities overseeing many numbers of hospitals within an area we now have these Trusts each headed by a board consisting of executive and non-executive directors, and chaired by a non-executive director. They add nothing to the medical operation of the NHS.
As for beds... it is not as simple as saying there are 50% fewer than on such a date. The bulk of beds lost were in mental health and learning disabilitie services which were moved to care in the community. Yet more were moved to day care systems due to improvements in medical procedures - ops - that needed shorter stays in hospital.
Having said that we are still pushing the capacity of acute care beds, especially in winter, as we are seeing just now.