MORE hospital beds may be opened in Worcestershire this year to avoid a repeat of last week's bed crisis, the county's hospitals chief has said.

John Rostill, chief executive of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Trust, said he is looking into the cost of opening extra hospital beds following the sudden influx of sick patients last week which saw non-urgent operations cancelled as Worcestershire Royal and Redditch Alexandra hospitals struggled at near-maximum capacity.

Today more than 100 beds around the county normally earmarked for patients undergoing routine surgery were still occupied by people admitted as medical emergencies.

We reported earlier how MP and health expert Dr Richard Taylor had grave concerns about the bed shortage, saying transferring patients to Kidderminster hospital wasn't the answer.

Now, as the wave of admissions starts to subside, non-urgent surgery is expected to resume - but Mr Rostill is keen to avoid any future repeat of last week's crisis.

"I have already commissioned work to determine the costs of providing more capacity for next winter, in order to reach a reasonable bed occupancy rate," Mr Rostill said.

"We currently operate close to 95 per cent (bed capacity), whereas figures suggest it should be nearer to 85 per cent for our trust."

More to follow...