Britain has fewer hospital beds than almost any other rich country
Why that once seemed like a good idea
Britain has 2.3 hospital beds per 1,000 people, compared with 5.7 in France, and 7.8 in Germany. So in the middle of what is perhaps the worst winter in the history of the National Health Service (NHS), it is not surprising that hospitals are rammed. In the second week of January, 95.7% of beds in acute and general wards in England were occupied, the second-highest figure ever recorded. High occupancy rates mean that it takes longer for sick patients to be admitted, resulting in record waiting times in accident & emergency (A&E) departments.
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Bedlam”
Britain January 28th 2023
- Britain’s carmaking industry is increasingly under threat
- Britain is beginning to protect its 1970s leisure centres
- Rishi Sunak’s hapless government
- Britain has fewer hospital beds than almost any other rich country
- Illness is stopping Britons from coming back to work
- How to conduct a sex survey
- Blat, the Soviet art of getting by, comes to Britain
From the January 28th 2023 edition
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