03.07.12
Reforms ‘might mean fewer beds’ – Lansley
Hospitals “may see wards closures” as the NHS changes the way it provides healthcare and delivers services, health secretary Andrew Lansley has admitted. But he added that the changes will lead to “better services”.
He claimed that while hospitals would not “necessarily” close, wards and beds may be shut down as more care is carried out in the community.
Lansley told LBC Radio: “If you have more services provided in the community, you will have less happening in hospitals. That may mean wards shutting down, that might mean fewer beds. What we're looking for is to think really good clear radical thoughts about how we can design better services.”
Such service reconfiguration is accepted as a given and even a necessity in health policy circles if the NHS is to cope with rising demand and static budgets without harming patient care, but ministers have traditionally been loath to discuss closures as they can be politically so dangerous.
Last night, a Labour spokesman accused the Prime Minister of going back on his word on the NHS.
He said: “Before the last election David Cameron promised a bare knuckle fight against hospital closures. Now that those very A&Es and maternity wards are closing one by one, it’s clear this was yet another cynical promise on the NHS.”
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