Britain has the shortest maternity stays and the fewest hospital beds in the EU

tunisante November 24, 2016

UK has 2.8 doctors per 1,000 people – behind only Romania and Poland
Britain is also third worst for the number of hospital beds per head
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s revealed the statistics in its annual report

Daniel Martin Chief Political Correspondent For The Daily Mail

Published:
19:13 EST, 23 November 2016

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Updated:
19:26 EST, 23 November 2016

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Britain has the shortest maternity stays and among the fewest hospital beds, doctors and cancer scanners in the EU, a study shows.

It lays bare the extent to which the NHS is labouring, highlighting the fact that the UK has the third lowest number of hospital beds per head of population.

The average maternity stay of 36 hours, or 1.5 days – condemned as ‘conveyor belt care’ – puts Britain on a par with non-EU country Turkey. And this is less than half the EU average stay of 3.2 days, far lower than the 4.1 common in France and five in Croatia.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s annual report into EU healthcare shows that on a range of statistics Britain fares worse than a number of countries formerly behind the Iron Curtain.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s annual report into EU healthcare shows that on a range of statistics Britain is faring badly

The UK has just 2.8 practising doctors per 1,000 people – equal to Ireland and Slovenia, and behind only Romania and Poland.

The EU average is much higher at 3.5, with Germany on 4.1 and Greece on 6.3. Even former Communist states such as Lithuania and Slovakia do far better. Britain’s poor performance comes despite the fact that the number of doctors has increased by more than 50 per cent since 2000. The shortage means doctors have much less time for consultations.

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Britain has the shortest maternity stays and among the fewest hospital beds in the EU, new statistics show

British patients see a doctor on average five times a year, with only Denmark, Finland, Portugal and Sweden lower. The average across the EU is 7.1 consultations per patient, and in Germany it is 9.9.

The statistics are in the latest Health at a Glance: Europe 2016 report by the OECD, which represents industrialised countries.

It found the UK has fewer nurses than the EU average – 8.2 per 1,000 people compared with 8.4.

Britain is also third worst for the number of hospital beds per head of population. There are 2.7 beds per 1,000 people – better only than Ireland and Sweden. The EU average is 5.2, and in Germany it is 8.2.

Britain comes third bottom for MRI scanners and second to bottom – after Hungary – for CT scanners.

The UK has 6.1 MRI scanners per million people, compared with 30.5 in Germany and 15.4 across the EU. And the country has only eight CT scanners per million, compared with 37.7 in Denmark and 21.4 across the EU.

The Royal College of Midwives has warned maternity cuts are leading to ‘conveyor belt care’.

The RCM’s Louise Silverton said last night: ‘Our research in 2014 showed many women felt they were being sent home after giving birth before they were ready. When women go home should be based on clinical need taking account of the woman’s circumstances, not the needs of the organisation caring for them.’

Joyce Robins, from Patient Concern, said: ‘It’s frightening. These figures show that the NHS is scraping through.

‘It’s incredible that cuts are threatened all the time when we have so few beds and some hospitals can’t throw patients out fast enough.’

Liberal Democrat health spokesman Norman Lamb said: ‘These numbers lay bare the scale of the crisis – staff under incredible pressure, finances at breaking point and demand continuing to rise.’