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This story says 82% of critical care beds in Greater Manchester are occupied but for some reason it doesn't mention what a normal occupancy % is. Here are the adult critical care bed numbers for October last year:
Manchester Uni Trust: 87% occupied
Salford: 97%
Tameside: 100% https://twitter.com/BenQuinn75/status/1317914747585560577
Manchester Uni Trust: 87% occupied
Salford: 97%
Tameside: 100% https://twitter.com/BenQuinn75/status/1317914747585560577
According to NHS data, the occupancy of adult critical care beds in Greater Manchester at the end of October 2019 was .... 83.6%.
*How* is that not in the story?
(Data here https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/critical-care-capacity/critical-care-bed-capacity-and-urgent-operations-cancelled-2019-20-data/)
*How* is that not in the story?
(Data here https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/critical-care-capacity/critical-care-bed-capacity-and-urgent-operations-cancelled-2019-20-data/)
Stating the obvious here but surely in the midst of a major health crisis we do not want to be misleading people about the availability of beds at their local hospitals?
As Rowan says, the quote from the NHS down the story pushes back by clarifying this occupancy level is normal. I hope they move that way up and edit the paragraph in question before the paper gets printed tonight https://twitter.com/rowanbridge/status/1317930050575007745
Another respected national newspaper did this recently about Liverpool - details in tomorrow's @liverpoolpost...
Ok final tweet on this: this story is on the Guardian's front page tomorrow and the bit where the NHS clarifies these occupancy rates are normal is obviously not on the front page. Improvement in how we cover these stories is needed!! https://twitter.com/guardiannews/status/1317933670460739587
Actually final tweet: Here's the paper hundreds of thousands of people in Greater Manchester read running with the story without even the NHS quote pushing back - so there's no way even a careful reader would know. https://twitter.com/MENnewsdesk/status/1317933499991658504
This reply is worth highlighting I think - clearly there will be fewer elective surgeries this year, so it’s not a perfect comparison to last year. It’s the kind of point you want in an article alongside the context about last year’s occupancy. https://twitter.com/ukdoc5/status/1318099118426902529
If you work in a hospital in Greater Manchester (or Liverpool actually) please get in touch 
https://twitter.com/manchestermill/status/1318197994664136704
https://twitter.com/manchestermill/status/1318197994664136704
