REVEALED: ICU beds shortage costing 300 lives every year

Situation branded "grossly unsafe" by top doctor

Patients are paying the price for a shortage of intensive care beds

More than 300 avoidable deaths are occurring annually as a result of the desperate shortage of intensive care beds.

The stark figure has been revealed by doctors amid renewed concerns about patients who are unable to access intensive care unit (ICU) beds.

Dr Stephen Frohlich, a consultant in anaesthesia and intensive care, said the shortfall in ICU beds across the country was “grossly unsafe from a patient safety perspective”.

Frohlich and other specialists ...