Tweet by former Welsh Secretary branded ‘stupidest ever’ by site’s users

A tweet from a former Welsh Secretary has been branded the ‘stupidest ever’ by some of the social media site’s users after he questioned why the NHS bed shortage wasn’t solved by simply putting in more beds.

“We hear how the NHS is short of beds. Why don’t managers put more in?” John Redwood, who led the Wales Office under PM John Major’s second government between 1993 and 1995, asked on Twitter.

Despite John Redwood being considered one of the Brexit-supporting right’s leading intellectuals, most of the almost 10,000 responses were uncomplimentary.

Many users pointed out that the bed shortage did not refer to a shortage of actual beds but the availability and capability of NHS staff to care for the people in them.

We hear how the NHS is short of beds. Why don’t managers put more in?

— John Redwood (@johnredwood) December 17, 2022

Jamie Murphy said: “The limitation isn’t the frame and the mattress, if it were we’d have cracked covid with the DFS sale in Jan 2021.”

“This is humiliating, John,” Kerith Taylor said. “You’ve been an MP for decades, and you still don’t realise that when the NHS refers to a bed shortage they’re not referring to the beds themselves.”

Ruth Ware asked: “You do understand that when they refer to beds they’re not literally referring to pieces of furniture, but to the staff capacity to look after patients?”

Another user said: “A ‘bed’ is a unit of activity. It requires resources to run it. It need staff (not just nurses but every other type of support staff). It requires equipment, consumables, drugs, electricity, oxygen, food etc. Your party has failed to provide the resources needed to run them.”

Cris Dafis said: “Wow, what a good idea. You should be in some major decision-making position in the UK. Your genius would save a failing state.”

Another jokily suggested that if only the NHS had “bunk beds” their problems would be solved.

However most contented themselves with calling the tweet “stupid”, while many others questioned whether it was a parody account.

Thomas James said: “This might possibly be the stupidest thing anybody has ever tweeted.”

An analysis by the Health Foundation this year found that the four NHS services across the nations of the UK have fewer beds per 100,000 population compared to other health systems in comparable countries.

John Redwood’s time as Welsh Secretary is best remembered for his attempts to pretend to sing the Welsh National Anthem, as seen below.