More beds occupied at Sutton’s King’s Mill Hospital than at any point during pandemic

A think tank has warned high levels of occupancy can lead to worse patient care in hospitals.

NHS England figures show 90.3 per cent of 712 overnight beds were occupied at SFH – which runs Mansfield Community, Newark and Sutton’s King’s Mill hospitals – in the three months to March, the highest since the coronavirus pandemic began, and a rise from 87.8 per cent over the same period a year before.

Rachel Eddie, SFH chief operating officer, said: “NHS services across the country experienced some of their most intense pressures over the past winter and our hospitals were no different in experiencing high demand in our urgent and emergency care services while continuing to care for high numbers of patients who are ready to leave our hospitals but are waiting for their care packages to be arranged.

“A key part of our trust’s response to managing those pressures over the past year has been our ability to flexibly increase the number of beds within the trust when they are needed most to a point where, by January, we had more beds open in our hospitals than at any other point in our organisation’s history.

“I am grateful to our hardworking staff for their part in managing those pressures, all while continuing to deal with the ongoing challenge of Covid, continuing to drive down waiting times for non-urgent care and managing periods of industrial action.

“As a trust, we continue to work closely with our health and social care colleagues across the county to work together to manage those pressures and continue to make every one of our hospital inpatient beds count each and every day.”

Across England, occupancy rates rose again in the last quarter, reaching 89.8 per cent, just shy of the record of 90 per cent in March 2018.

For general and acute settings, this figure was 92.3 per cent, the highest rate since the pandemic began.

The figures show 93 per cent of beds in acute settings at SFH were filled in the three months to March.

Sarah Scobie, Nuffield Trust think tank director of research, warned a lack of beds could “lead to dangerously busy and difficult conditions” in hospitals .

She said: “Frequent high levels of beds in use have contributed to the record waiting lists we are seeingand there is also evidence overcrowded hospitals increase risks to patients.”

Even with the pandemic receding, the NHS in England has faced a difficult winter. Issues with pay and working conditions have led many staff at the health service to strike in recent months.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: "Cutting waiting lists is one of the government’s priorities. We are investing up to £14.1 billion in health and social care over the next two years, on top of record funding.

"Waiting times have substantially reduced from the peak of winter pressures and the NHS has set out ambitious plans to improve access to care. This includes delivering 5,000 additional permanent hospital beds for next winter as well as an extra 3,000 virtual ward beds to safely care for people from home, resulting in more than 10,000 in total by autumn.”