BMA - NHS hospital beds data analysis (November 2021)

Summary

This analysis by The British Medical Association (BMA) highlights that the health service has a shortage of hospital beds, and that occupancy rates consistently exceed safe levels. It states that bed capacity will be a critical limiting factor in the NHS recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. The analysis looks at:

• NHS bed data compared to other countries.
• bed stocks over time.
• the impact of Covid-19.
• safety breaches.
• intensive care capacity.

Content

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on service delivery, including the use and availability of beds, due to:

• infection control measures placing limits on ward space.
• reduced elective capacity.
• staffing redeployment.

For this reason, this analysis uses the pre-pandemic year of 2019/20 as the comparator, to fairly illustrate long-term trends.

As a result of the bed shortage demonstrated by this analysis, the BMA is calling for:

• an increase in core bed stock
• adequate funding to increase the workforce, ensuring that additional beds can be staffed safely.