There are 215 hospital groups (called ‘trusts’; including 10 ambulance trusts) in the NHS. The actual number of hospitals is unknown, partly as it hard to define a hospital
There are (about!) 141,900 available beds – but this changes every day
The number of beds is decreasing
The number of beds in England has halved over the past 30 years. Proportionally, the largest falls have been in beds for people with a learning disability, people with mental illness, and long-term beds for older people
Medical advances that mean patients don’t have to stay in hospital for as long and a shift in policy towards providing treatment and care outside hospital have contributed to the reduction in bed numbers.
During 2023/24, there were 16.5 million A&E attendances and 4.7 million emergency admissions and 8.6 million elective admissions (operations and procedures) – all rising
No NHS hospital target has been achieved since February 2016:
18 week elective (planned care) target= 92% of patients should have definitive treatment within 18 weeks of referral from GP to hospital (e.g. GP to hospital consultant for an operation like a hip replacement). Currently 58% achieve the 18 week target. The 18 week target was last achieved in February 2016
4 hour A&E target = 95% of patients should be admitted, transferred, or discharged from A&E within four hours. Currently 60% achieve the 4 hour target. The 4 hour target was last achieved in July 2015
Cancer targets
31 day target = 31-days (one month) wait from decision to treat to first treatment (target = 96%)
62 day target = 62-days (two months) wait from referral to first treatment (85%)
Currently 92% of patients achieve the 31 day target and 68% achieve the 62 day target.
