The worrying thing is that beds are easy. We could just requisition hotel rooms if we needed. The bed is the least important part of the package of stuff that w

The worrying thing is that beds are easy. We could just requisition hotel rooms if we needed. The bed is the least important part of the package of stuff that we mean when we talk about beds. You need doctors, nurses (and these are specialist nurses), ventilators, oxygen, etc etc. We're already seeing a collapse in skill mix in London ICUs. Nurses are going from 1:1 (one specialist nurse per patient) to 1:6. Doctors are going from between 1:8 - 1:15 to 1:30 > While many covid-19 patients have minor illness, large proportions of those who are admitted to hospital require intensive care — and modelling suggests the NHS’ previous ICU capacity could fall far short. https://www.hsj.co.uk/exclusive-intensive-care-staffing-ratios-dramatically-diluted/7027214.article https://www.hsj.co.uk/exclusive-intensive-care-staffing-rati...