The Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association has claimed that official figures on the availability of intensive care beds may 'grossly under-represent' pressure on bed space. It cites a case in which patients being ventilated in cardiac beds were not included in NHS Executive figures. Former HCSA president Robin Loveday, a consultant anaesthetist at Kent and Sussex Hospital, said the 'weekly hunt' for intensive care beds was getting worse and claimed hospitals were putting off major surgery because of lack of space in intensive care units.