Press release: Number of beds down by one third but patient care has improved

22 May 2006

The number of hospital beds has fallen by one third in the last 20 years, but the NHS is doing more than ever before.

This is the hard hitting message of a new report by the NHS Confederation which represents more than 90 per cent of NHS organisations.

Advances in technology and new ways of treating patients mean the NHS needs fewer beds.

From 1984 to 2004 the number of hospital beds has reduced from 211,617 to 145,218 (31 per cent), whilst the number of admissions needing to stay overnight has increased by 57 per cent in the same period. In 2004, over 90 per cent of NHS patients rated their care as excellent, very good, or good.

Dr Gill Morgan, Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation, said: "More patients are being treated faster and more effectively than ever before by the NHS. The number of actual beds has steadily reduced, yet the amount of care the service is able to deliver has dramatically increased."

And this is not a new trend in the NHS. Figures show that the number of beds has been consistently falling since 1959 and has reduced by 40 per cent as new technologies and ways of treatment have come into being.

Dr Morgan continued: "We need to move away from this fixation with bricks and mortar. The world is changing, patients' needs are changing and the NHS is adapting to meet those needs.

"It's not surprising that people believe that more beds mean better patient care - this has been the assumption for many years.  We must start judging the NHS by the number of people we make better and keep well, not by the amount of beds which are, after all, only hospital furniture. Developments in technology and changes in the way treatment is delivered mean we simply need fewer beds.

"We need an informed debate about whether beds, bricks and mortar are always the best place to be putting valuable NHS cash. The NHS Confederation believes that we must judge the investment of taxpayers' money by assessing improvements in treatments for patients rather than by counting beds."

The report outlines seven scenarios where the number of beds can be reduced:

When patients prefer to be treated somewhere else

E.g. new chemotherapy treatments can be administered to patients in their homes

When care is more effectively provided elsewhere

E.g. doctors in local surgeries carrying out minor surgery

When technology has changed the type of treatment needed

E.g. keyhole surgery has a shorter recovery time so patients can go home sooner

When chronic disease management improves

E.g. self treatment plans for people with chronic bronchitis help them manage their condition and reduce emergency admissions to hospital

When changes to emergency care reduce admissions to hospital

E.g. emergency care practitioners in the ambulance service can treat people in their own home

When it is safer for patients to be at a specialist hospital rather than a local one

E.g. in emergency aortic aneurysm surgery, it is better to travel to an expert centre than a local hospital because the patient's chance of survival is better

When hospitals cut out the waiting around

E.g. patients spend a lot of time waiting for consultant ward round and tests. More efficiently run hospitals cut out the waiting and patients can go home sooner.

These scenarios highlight changes in the way the NHS is working - they do not mean the end of hospitals.

The NHS Confederation is launching the Why we need fewer hospital beds report at a briefing for MPs and peers today at the House of Commons.

ENDS
 

Notes for editors

AVAILABLE CASE STUDIES
Ealing Primary Care Trust
(When care is more effectively provided elsewhere)
Sussex Ambulance Service NHS Trust
(When changes to emergency care reduce admissions to hospital)
NHS Heart Improvement Programme
(When hospitals cut out the waiting around)
Please contact Amy Darlington, Senior Media Officer at the NHS Confederation, on 020 7074 3304 or 07767 770309 to access the above case studies

1. This briefing is the first of five briefings on the most contentious issues facing the NHS. The series aims to explode some of the most controversial myths that pervade the current debate on the NHS. For more information go to www.nhsconfed.org/confidence.
2. The NHS Confederation represents more than 90 per cent of the organisations that make up the NHS. Its members include the majority of NHS acute trusts, ambulance trusts, foundation trusts, mental health trusts, primary care trusts, special health authorities and strategic health authorities in England; trusts and local health boards in Wales; and health and social service trusts and boards in Northern Ireland. 

Contact details

Contact Senior Media Officer Amy Darlington on 020 7074 3304 or 07767 770309.

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