In the 10 years from 2010, nearly 25,000 National Health Service (NHS) beds were closed, taking the number down to 162,000. This occurred at a time when the overall population was expected to rise by 5 million by 2020, and the number of 65+ adults to rise by more than 10%.
Prior to Covid-19, BBC television programme The Hospital showed the daily task of management fire-fighting to get operations completed and A&E patients seen given the lack of beds. Highly paid surgeons were hanging around waiting to be told if an important operation could proceed, because unless there was a spare intensive-care bed, the operation could not go ahead. The waste of resources was plain and the need for some spare beds was clear for all to see. The NHS was short of capacity — especially in the winter, when demand was higher.
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