Weather and cash crisis leave NHS in chaos

Scores of hospitals across the country have closed beds, banned routine surgery, and are accepting 999 cases only, as pre-Christmas predictions by the British Medical Association of an emergency-only service this winter appear to be fulfilled.

Cold weather, a high incidence of flu-like illnesses, staff shortages and an unprecedented cash crisis have pushed the health service to the brink of collapse, according to doctors, nurses and hospital and health authority managers.

They say patients are already suffering. A 70-year-old man with liver failure died after being transferred 90 miles when hospitals in the Midlands were unable to find a bed for him.

In another case, a 20-month-old girl was taken 120 miles to Edinburgh after doctors failed to find an intensive-care bed for her in Sunderland, Newcastle upon Tyne, or Middlesbrough. Dr Keith Little, head of the casualty unit at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital, said: "The whole acute hospital service is stretched beyond its capacity to cope."

The Royal College of Nursing accused health chiefs of ignoring its warnings about an in- crease in emergency winter admissions. Recent appeals by hospitals for relief staff to cover nurses who are ill with flu were "entirely predictable" examples of poor planning by health trusts, the RCN said.

In addition, new figures from the Department of Health show that health authorities in England are facing their largest-ever deficit of around pounds 150m by the end of the financial year in March 1997 - pounds 30m more than the previous forecast in June.

Hugh Bayley, the Labour MP for York who obtained the figures, accused the Government of allowing health authorities to overspend in a bid to hide cutbacks in services and beds until after the election.

Philip Hunt, director of the National Association of Health Authorities and Trusts, confirmed the shortfall would have to be made good from the extra pounds 1.2bn allocated for NHS growth next year.

Dr Sandy Macara, chairman of the BMA council, said: "When we first made these predictions in October we were accused of being alarmist. But we knew from our members what was happening."