Health check

If they manage to treat patients promptly, and have an appropriate bed available, then there is unlikely to be a complaint from the individual concerned.

The disquiet only comes when hospitals have a shortage of beds, and doctors have to resort to treating patients in TV rooms, mop cupboards and corridors.

Of course, this is far from ideal – especially given the amount of money that the Government has spent on overhauling hospital facilities since it came

to power.

Yet it would, perhaps, be more pertinent if the survey undertaken by the Nursing Times, and published today, was understood from the perspective of NHS trusts that run the major casualty units across Yorkshire.

They have become adept at handling major incidents, or illnesses, that place their A&E departments under great strain. They are also well-qualified in prioritising those people whose condition is the most urgent.

Occasionally, this will mean that staff have to improvise. Yet the alternative is for hospitals to have larger casualty units, and such like, which are under-utilised for large periods of time.

They key is for hospitals to be flexible at all times – and for all the relevant care agencies to work together to ensure beds are not being used up by elderly patients who are waiting to be transferred to specialist units that have the expertise to treat their needs, or to care homes.