32,000 NHS beds have been lost under Labour, say Tories

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Last year saw a record cut in numbers, despite fears that this leads to overcrowding in the remaining wards and a higher risk of superbug infections.

Patients groups described the change as a national scandal while Tories accused the Government of financial mismanagement on a massive scale.

'National scandal': Thousands of hospital beds have been cut

Figures obtained by the Tories show that NHS hospitals had just over 167,000 beds in 2007 compared with 199,000 in 1997.

More than 8,450 were lost in the year ending March 2007, the biggest cut in 14 years.

Tory spokesman Andrew Lansley said the Government's financial mismanagement had forced hospitals to make potentially life-threatening cuts.

He said: "The Government's approach of care closer to home and cutting beds can only work if there is the investment in high quality community services, but it's just not happening. Hospital admissions and emergency attendances remain high."

Katherine Murphy, of the Patients' Association, said: "This is a national scandal. More than 30,000 beds have been lost at a time when demand is increasing."

There are also concerns that overcrowding in some hospitals is spreading superbugs.

The investigation-into the UK's biggest Clostridium difficile outbreak, in Kent in 2005 and 2006, found that overcrowding contributed to the deaths of 90 patients.

The Government insisted that the fall in hospital beds was a sign of a healthy NHS.

A Health Department spokesman said: "General and acute bed numbers are decreasing because hospitals are dealing with patients more efficiently.

"The NHS now performs more day cases, and people with long-term conditions are supported in their own homes.

"The experts all agree that this is the best way to deliver healthcare to patients.

"Bed occupancy rates were at 84 per cent last year, which proves that the NHS has the right supply to meet demand."