PRESS ASSOCIATION - A former head of the NHS has called for more hospitals to be closed to enable the health system to succeed in the future.
Lord Crisp, who was the NHS chief executive and permanent secretary of the Department of Health between 2000 and 2006, said building programmes had gone too far, leading to overcapacity.
He has called for an overhaul of hospitals to free up funds for community services to deal with the ageing population.
Lord Crisp said: "In the late 1990s, waiting lists, A&E and standards in cardiac care were the big issues and we dealt with them. But the challenge now is dealing with the numbers of older people and those with long-term conditions. They need supporting in the community.
"That means a shift away from hospitals. There will be less need for large hospital outpatient departments and some services and whole hospitals will need to close or be merged with others."
Katherine Murphy, of the Patients Association, agreed the Government should not be afraid of making difficult decisions.
She said: "What is the point of having brand new hospital buildings if there are not enough funds to treat people in them? We must never forget that by merging services, there will be patients who may struggle to get to them because they are too far away."
Dr Ros Altmann, director-general of over-50s organisation Saga, said that community care should be improved before hospitals were cut. He said: "This is the right idea, but gets things in the wrong order. In reality, the faster and more comprehensively domiciliary care is developed - backed by a robust and realistic care funding process - the sooner hospital costs and demand for beds will fall."
A Department of Health spokeswoman said: "Any service reconfigurations will be subject to four tests. They must be supported by GP commissioners; strengthen public and patient engagement; there must be clear clinical evidence supporting the reconfiguration; and the change must not limit current and prospective patient choice."