NHS chiefs fear hospitals will not cope amid growing social care crisis

Eight in ten hospital chief executives fear their wards will be unable to cope within a year, amid a growing social care crisis. 

A damning report today says most of those running NHS trusts are worried about short staffing and a lack of investment in services to keep the elderly out of hospital. Six in ten trust chief executives and chairmen said a lack of doctors and nurses is endangering decent patient care, with almost 100,000 staff vacancies across the NHS. Eight in ten of those running hospitals said they feared they would not be able to cope with demand within the next 12 months.

The report by NHS Providers, which represents trusts, warned of deteriorating performance across hospitals, with key targets repeatedly missed.

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Source: The Telegraph, 8 October 2019