Bed-blocking: ‘Managers ask how long patient will live’

Fighting to hold back her tears, an AE nurse has told 5 live Investigates: “I really struggle when management comment and they ask how many hours will the patient be alive for… because we need the bed.”

The bed-blocking crisis in AE departments in England is worse than ever before according to the British Medical Association.

One of the biggest problems is delays in social care assessments which means patients are stranded in hospital because there aren’t care packages for them when they leave.

This clip is originally from 5 live Investigates on Sunday 22 January 2017