Health secretary Frank Dobson chats to patient Jean Boyle after officially opening Huddersfield Royal Infirmary's pounds1m critical care unit last week. Because of funding problems, the eight-bed unit has been running half-empty since it started accepting patients 18 months ago. The four intensive care beds at the unit have already been used to treat more than 250 patients, but four high-dependency beds have been standing empty, despite appeals for funds to Calderdale and Kirklees health authority. Two of the four high-dependency beds are about to come on-line, funded by the government's 'winter pressures' money.
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