UK health trusts revealed to have fewer beds per 1,000 people than in Mexico, analysis suggests
- Some areas were left with less than one bed per 1,000 people in 2022
A postcode lottery for hospital beds means some areas have been left with fewer per 1,000 people than Mexico, analysis suggests.
The data has been revealed by House of Commons Library research, commissioned by the Liberal Democrats.
It shows Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust in London had just 0.9 beds per 1,000 people in 2022.
That is less than the 1.0 beds per 1,000 people reported for Mexico in 2021 by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
A postcode lottery for hospital beds means some areas have been left with fewer per 1,000 people than Mexico, analysis suggests.
The London hospital trust saw a 41 per cent reduction in beds per 1,000 people since 2015, according to the figures up to the end of June 2022.
Just over two-thirds of the 121 trusts with complete data have seen a fall in the number of beds per person since 2015.
And more than a third have seen a drop in beds for every 1,000 people of more than 10 per cent.
Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Trust has seen beds per 1,000 people go up since 2015, but had less than the figure for Mexico at just 0.8.
The analysis works out the number of beds per 1,000 people based on the estimated number of people in a ‘catchment area’ – assuming most will rely on beds in their local hospitals.
A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care said: ‘The NHS is on track to deliver 5,000 permanent hospital beds for next winter.’