March News
Hospitals 'should axe thousands more beds'
Thousands of hospital beds in England should be axed
to save money and improve care, a think tank says.
Centre right group Reform said in some areas up to a quarter of beds could go. It said advances in technology and rising rates of conditions like diabetes meant the focus should shift towards more community services.
The government said local health chiefs could decide, while the British Medical Association said cuts made for purely financial reasons would be "immoral". The hospital bed count has been falling for decades, but Reforms's call represents a more rapid programme than has been seen in recent years.
There were just under 300,000 beds in 1987, but by last year that had fallen to 160,000 as advances in treatment have meant patients do not need to spend as long in hospital.
Too many visit GPs with minor ailments
Too many people are going to see their GP with minor problems, such as coughs and colds, a group of doctors and health campaigners says.
The report by the "Self-Care Campaign" says common ailments account for nearly one fifth of GPs' workload.
It says the cost to the health service across the UK is nearly £2bn a year. The campaign - funded by drugs companies selling over-the-counter medicines - has won backing from doctors, nurses and health charities.
The report says many people with minor ailments go to their doctor out of convenience or dependency rather than need, at huge cost to the health service. It concludes that this is unsustainable.
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