Even before the current winter crisis in the NHS, there were signs that hospital capacity
was reaching breaking point with the death of a 57-year old woman last summer whose life-saving surgery was delayed due to lack of beds at three hospitals. By the time surgery was carried out, it was too late, and Mary Muldowney died from a brain haemorrhage, it was revealed in The Times this month.
Despite requiring immediate surgery for bleeds to the brain, three hospitals – St George’s in Tooting, the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, and King’s College Hospital, South London – refused to take her as they had no spare beds.
The coroner investigating the death commented that Mrs Muldowney would probably have survived had she been transferred to an appropriate unit and operated on promptly.
She further suggested that the necessary surgery could have taken place regardless of bed availability and Mrs. Muldowney could then have been transferred to a hospital with spare capacity, “at least having undergone the time-critical clot evacuation and aneurysm clipping” and by that time being out of immediate danger.
Although a bed occupancy of 85% is generally regarded as appropriate for hospitals to be able to respond to emergencies and maintain patient safety, earlier this month bed occupancy was at over 90%.
Hospital bed capacity in England is well below the European average of 521 beds per 100,000 people, so the current pressure on hospitals looks likely to continue for the foreseeable future.
Speak to a solicitor
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