Doctors have warned that the NHS may well struggle to cope during the coming winter. They have said that even in the summer there was bed blocking caused by a shortage of social care. In July it hit a high of 67,969 bed days which was more than double of five years ago.
The bed blocking led on to delays in people being admitted to A & E or for routine ops, with waits of ten weeks or more at the highest in nine years.
Dr. Taj Hassain from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine said, “It is extremely worrying for the winter ahead.”