chart 8
Number of hospital beds per 100,000 inhabitants
in 2015 and percentage of beds per 100,000 lifted
(or added) since 2000
Data suggest that in the
EU about 17.2% of the population
is admitted to hospital every year
and that the average length
of stay is around eight days
2015
Variation between 2000 and 2015
Germany
-11%
Latvia
-35%
Lithuania -14%
Hungary -14%
France -23%
Austria -5%
Between 2000 and 2015, almost all countries
stabilised their rate of admissions for all hospitals.
From 2000 to 2014, this figure decreased on average
by 0.5 p.p. (from 17.8% to 17.3%). Most of them
were also able to reduce the length of stay in acute
care hospitals. Indeed, the EU average improved,
decreasing from 7.6 bed-days in 2000 to 6.4 bed-
days in 2014.
The link between the rate of admissions and
the length of stay can be a very sensitive issue for
hospitals, because it is commonly acknowledged
that too short a length of stay may increase the
risk of re-admissions, with a consequent waste
of resources both for the hospital and for the
patients and their careers. At the same time,
staying too long in a hospital might indicate
inappropriate settlements of patients, also
causing a waste of resources.
Chart 11 compares the rate of hospital
admissions and the average length of stay in 2015.
The last updated data shows that the average
European figures corresponds to a mean rate of
admissions by 17.2% and a mean length of stay of
8.0 days for all hospitals. From 2000 to 2015, the
foremost variations between countries concern
the admissions, ranging from 10.9 in Portugal
to 25.6 in Austria. A cluster of countries, mainly
encompassing EU 13, presents a number of
admissions per 100 higher than the EU average
(17.2%). The smallest countries seem to be more
successful in finding a good balance between these
two indicators.
The bed occupancy rate represents the average
-27%
Slovakia
Czech Republic -17%
Belgium -20%
Finland
-42%
-30%
Estonia
-1%
Poland
-25%
Luxembourg
-27%
Switzerland
-58%
Ireland
-16%
Slovenia
-13%
Netherlands
Greece -11%
Italy -32%
-41%
Denmark
-36%
United Kingdaom
-8%
Portugal
Spain -18%
Sweden -32%
0
200
400
600
800
1,000
chart 9
Percentage of private inpatient hospital beds: Years 2002, 2008, 2014
50
40
2008
2014
59.3
47.6
40.3
37.6
34.7
33.9
32
31.4
30.8
29.9
30
19.9
20
15.4
n.a.
15.3
9.8
10
7.2
6.2
5.3
4.2
1.6
1.1
0.6
n.a.
19
HHE 2018 | hospitalhealthcare.com
0
2002
60