Hospital beds and occupancy

The number of hospital beds provides an indication of the resources available for delivering services to inpatients. The COVID‑19 pandemic has highlighted the need to have a sufficient number of hospital beds and flexibility in their use, to address any unexpected surge in demand for intensive care, together with a sufficient number of doctors and nurses with the right skills to provide the required services (OECD/European Union, 2020[14]). Still, a surplus of hospital beds may lead to overuse and therefore costs – notably for patients whose outcomes may not improve from intensive care (Phua, Hashmi and Haniffa, 2020[15]). Therefore, while policy makers should guarantee sufficient hospital bed capacity to ensure resilience, value‑for-money considerations should also be taken into account.