NHS cannot afford the beds it needs this winter, admits NHSE

The NHS “potentially” lacks the beds to deal with increased emergency care demand over the winter because of cost constraints, NHS England has admitted to MPs.

The Commons health and social care committee also heard that continuing confusion over the role of integrated care boards has undermined the service’s attempt to keep services safe and effective during winter. 

NHSE executive director for performance and delivery Emma Rowland told the MPs: “There’s no doubt we have less beds open this year versus last year.

“However… we’ve got increased attendances in A&E with increased complexity and an increased frail population. So there is a risk that we potentially could and should have more beds.” 

Dr Rowland added that, “from a financial perspective”, increasing the beds to meet this extra demand would be “very difficult” because of the costs of staffing them.

Royal College of Emergency Medicine president Ian Higginson had earlier told the committee the NHS was “still 1,000 beds down compared to last year, yet in a worsening situation”. Some hospitals “may still not have opened up spare capacity that they might be saving for winter… largely due to financial reasons”, he said.

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Source: HSJ, 11 November 2026