Introduction
The number of beds in Scottish hospitals, as elsewhere in the UK, is gradually declining. This is largely attributable to changing medical practice, which has developed techniques that allow faster recovery and has led to shorter lengths of stay being required for clinical care of patients. The growth in day case surgery, where patients occupy a hospital bed for one day or less, and improvements in treating patients in a primary care setting contribute to these trends.
Available Beds by Specialty & NHS Board of Treatment
Annual Statistics
Information presented covers financial years 2001/02 to 2010/11, and provides details on average available staffed beds, occupancy rates, length of stay and throughput by specialty at Scotland level and by NHS Board of treatment. Examples of the type of information that can be extracted from the data are shown below.
- The average number of available staffed beds in acute specialties was recorded as 16,701 in the year ending March 2011 and was 17,092 in the year ending March 2010.
- The occupancy rate for acute beds over the last ten years has remained steady at between 81% and 82%.
- The mean stay per bed for inpatient discharges (episodes) has decreased from 6.5 in the year ending March 2002 to 5.3 in the March 2011.
- The average number of inpatient discharges (episodes) treated per bed (i.e. throughput) has increased from 45.6 in the year ending March 2002 to 56.0 in March 2011.
Annual Statistics showing Available Beds by Specialty & NHS Board of Treatment 
[1.7mb]
Annual Trends by NHS Board of Treatment [818Kb]
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Quarterly Statistics
Information is presented for the quarters ending 30 June 2009 to 31 December 2011 and provides details of the average number of available staffed beds, occupancy rates, length of stay and throughput by specialty at Scotland level and by NHS Board of treatment.
- The number of available staffed beds in acute specialties was recorded as 16,361 in the quarter ending December 2011. This is a slight reduction of approximately 0.9% on the number of beds from December 2010.
- The occupancy rate for acute beds over the last eleven quarters (June 2009 - December 2011) has ranged from a low of 80.0% to a high of 84.4%. The occupancy rate in quarter ending December 2011 was 81.9%. This figure is similar to the occupancy rates in December 2009 and December 2010.
- The average number of inpatient discharges (episodes) treated per bed (i.e. throughput) has remained relatively constant between June 2009 and December 2011 at around 14.
The reduction in acute hospital bed numbers over time has been driven by a combination of factors including progress in medical technology and the provision of alternatives to hospital admission. Developments in medical technology have facilitated the provision of day surgery and ambulatory diagnostic or treatment services including, for example, the delivery of cancer treatments. Alternatives to hospital admission include nursing homes providing nursing care for elderly patients or services that enable patients to be cared for in their own homes. They also include facilities that aim to reduce the likelihood of admission, for example, assessment or observation units associated with emergency departments
Quarterly Statistics showing Available Beds by Specialty & NHS Board of Treatment [1.7Mb]
Quarterly Trends by NHS Board of Treatment [803Kb]
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Notes
NHS Argyll & Clyde ceased to exist at 1st April 2006. NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde and NHS Highland board areas were revised to include Argyll & Clyde. Data is shown for these new boards from 2007, and for the previous years by mapping Argyll & Clyde data to include with Greater Glasgow and Highland data.
The Scottish Health Service Costs publication (known as the Costs Book) also contains data on average staffed beds by hospital for 2010/11 - Costs Reference Information (in the Hospital Profiles section).
Caution should be taken when comparing Scottish beds data with information from the rest of the UK as there are likely to be key differences in analysis methodologies and data collection processes. The Office of National Statistics United Kingdom Health Statistics 2010 publication provides a single point of reference for the comparison of key figures between the four constituent countries of the UK. Hospital bed statistics can be found within chapter 8. Whilst the four UK countries worked collaboratively to maximise the comparability of the figures, it is important to note that differences between the countries remain in the way that data measures are collected and classified, and because of differences between countries in the organisation of health and social services. The report includes the details of these differences where relevant.
For specific beds information for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, please refer to the following links:
The Department of Health (DoH) publish statistics on bed use in the NHS in England:
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Statistics/Performancedataandstatistics/index.htm
The Welsh Government produce statistics on NHS beds and their use http://wales.gov.uk/docs/statistics/2011/111025sdr1912011en.pdf
In Northern Ireland, the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPSNI) bed use statistics on their website:
http://www.dhsspsni.gov.uk/index/stats_research/hospital-stats/inpatients.htm
