UK has half as many hospital beds per patient as France and Germany

June 20, 2016

BMA to call on the Government to halt the drive to slash number of beds
UK already has one of the fewest rates of hospital beds in Western world
Hospital which are overcrowded can increase the spread of infections
UK has just 2.8 beds per 100,000 – an average of one per 360 patients

Sophie Borland Health Editor For The Daily Mail

Published:
18:16 EST, 19 June 2016

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Updated:
01:48 EST, 20 June 2016

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Patients are being harmed because the NHS has half as many hospital beds as France and Germany, senior doctors will warn today.

Representatives from doctors’ union the British Medical Association will call on the Government to halt the drive to slash hospital beds.

They will point out that the UK already has one of the fewest rates of hospital beds in the Western world and that this is leading to overcrowding, the spread of infections and patients having to wait for hours on trolleys.

Latest figures show the UK has just 2.8 beds per 100,000 – an average of one per 360 patients – compared to France at 6.3, Germany at 8.3 and even Hungary at 7.2 beds per 100,000.

Of EU nations, only Sweden’s ratio is lower, at 2.7.

Representatives from doctors’ union the British Medical Association will call on the Government to halt the drive to slash hospital beds

And in the last five years the NHS has slashed the total number of overnight hospital beds by 10 per cent under a drive to save money on nursing care and to encourage patients to be discharged earlier.

But doctors today will warn that the policy has gone ‘too far’ and pointing out the UK already has ‘substantially fewer beds’ than most other Western world countries.

They will vote on a motion this morning at their annual meeting in Belfast that calls on the BMA to lobby the Government and NHS to halt the reduction in hospital beds and ‘urgently re-evaluate’ their plans.

Dr Mark Porter, chairman of the BMA council, warned that the policy was being ‘taken too far.’

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He warned that there were serious risks for patients including infections whenever bed occupancy rates are higher than 85 per cent – many hospitals are more than 90 per cent.

‘While this policy might make sense if you are looking for short term cuts, it can have serious implications for quality and cost of care in the longer term,’ he added.

‘We need to carefully monitor the number of beds available and ensure that we are putting patients first when it comes to deciding how many beds are available in the NHS.

‘If average bed occupancy goes up above about 85% there can be a rise in the risk of cross infection between patients, and it is less likely that an appropriate bed will be available for acute patients as they come in.

NHS figures show the number of overnight beds has dropped from 144,455 in 2010/11 to just 131,580, with further reductions planned as part of a policy for more patients to be treated at home

‘This latter will lead to increased waits for an appropriate bed or being admitted to an inappropriate ward, for example with knock-on effects whereby another patient might have elective surgery postponed.’

Consultant Richard Hardingham, proposing the motion, said: ‘Patients are being harmed because they are being sent home as there are no beds available.’

NHS figures show the number of overnight beds has dropped from 144,455 in 2010/11 to just 131,580, with further reductions planned as part of a policy for more patients to be treated at home.

Yet in March, separate data showed that nine in ten hospitals were so overcrowded they were deemed unsafe as they were exceeding the recommended occupancy limit of 85 per cent.

Shadow health secretary Heidi Alexander said: ‘Senior doctors are absolutely right to raise the alarm about the state of the NHS in England – and how services are falling behind our European neighbours.

‘The truth is you can’t slash the number of hospital beds if there is still a need for them.

‘The Government talk a good game about the need for care to be carried out as close to home as possible, but at the moment it is still a mirage.’

An NHS England spokesman said local NHS leaders determine ‘the best mix of care’ – at home, in the community and in hospital beds. They added: ‘It is important that patients receive the right care, in the right place, at the right time.’

Tomorrow the BMA will vote on whether to drop its opposition to assisted dying for the first time in more than a decade.

Doctors will consider adopting a ‘neutral’ stance which would be a highly significant move and reflect the fact that rising numbers support the controversial policy.

They include the Queen’s former physician, Sir Richard Thompson, who believes doctors have a ‘duty’ to help patients end their lives.