Total number of hospital beds

Albania

Source: Ministry of Health.

Austria

Source of data: Austrian Federal Ministry of Health, Hospital Statistics (annual average).
Reference period: 31st December.
Coverage: Complete (HP.1).
Deviation from the definition: Includes beds for same-day care (same-day care can be provided in any
hospital bed, thus, these beds cannot be excluded).

Belarus

Source of data: Official Statistics Yearbook \Health in the Republic of Belarus\"

Belgium

Source of data: Federal Service of Public Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment, DG1
Organisation and Planning, Datamanagement; Central Institution Database - Centraal Ziekenhuisbestand
(CZB).
Reference period: 1st of January.
Coverage:
- Included in the calculation are all beds in acute care hospitals, geriatric hospitals, specialised
hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, psychiatric care centres and protected lodging initiatives.
- The increase in 1996 reflects the rise in psychiatric care beds, due to the creation of beds in
psychiatric care institutions and initiatives for a protected housing.
Break in time series:
- Since 2006, beds in psychiatric care institutions and initiatives for a protected housing have
been excluded. This explains the fall in psychiatric care beds in 2006.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Source: Public Health Institute FB&H, Hospital service in FB&H, Public Health Institute Republica
Srpska, Hospital service in Republica Srpska.

Bulgaria

Source of data: National Statistical Institute, National Centre for Public Health and Analyses at
the Ministry of Health
Due to structural transformations in the health care system in 2011 the National Centre for Health
Information was transform into National Centre for Public Health and Analyses
Reference period: 31st of December
Coverage: All disclosed beds in all types of hospitals are included. Dispensaries with beds are also
included. Dispensaries are medical establishments in which doctors with the assistance of other
personnel actively find, diagnose, treat and periodically observe patients with psychiatric, lung,
dermato-venerological and oncological diseases. Patients are admitted to dispensaries for a longer
period.
In 2005, data on beds by type are revised in order to provide harmonised data for psychiatric beds.

Croatia

Source of data: Croatian National Institute of Public Health, Hospital structure and function
database
Reference period: 31st December
Starting from 2009 data do not include community care centres providing both in-patient and
out-patient services primarily engaged in out-patient services.
Coverage: Data include number of hospital beds in all public and private hospitals in Croatia,
except prison hospital.

Cyprus

Source of data: Statistical Service of Cyprus, Public sector administrative sources and Private
Clinics Inspectors for the Private Sector.
Validity of the source: For the years 1985, 1987, 1995 and 2000 figures were obtained from the
Census of Doctors, Dentists and Clinics.
Reference period: 31st December.
Coverage: Data refer to General Hospitals, Rural Hospitals and one Special Hospital (psychiatric) of
the public sector as well as the total number of beds of the private sector. Beds corresponding to
Not-for-profit privately owned hospitals have not been counted.

Czechia

Czech Republic

Source of data: Institute of Health Information and Statistics of the Czech Republic. Survey on bed
resources of health establishments and their exploitation.
Reference period: End of the year.
Coverage:
- Until 1999, data cover only establishments of the health sector. Since 2000, data cover all
sectors.
- Providers: Hospitals and specialised therapeutic institutes (excluding balneologic institutes,
convalescence homes for children, institutes for long-term patients and Hospices).
- Beds: All available beds excluding newborns? cots.
Break in time series: 2000.

Denmark

Source of data: National Board of Health (2010: internal hospital beds database has been used).

Estonia

Source of data:
- Since 1.01.2008 National Institute for Health Development, Department of Health Statistics.
- Data from routinely collected health care statistics submitted by health care providers (monthly
statistical report \Hospital beds and hospitalisation\").
Reference period: 31st of December.
Coverage:
- All hospitals HP.1 (public and private sector) are included.
- Cots for neonates

Finland

Source of data: National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Care Register for Institutional
Health Care.
Estimation method: Since 1994, calculated beddays/365 or 366.
Break in time series: 2000. The series was recalculated from 2000 onwards to correspond to the SHA
2011 definitions.

France

Source of data: Ministere de la Sante et des Sports - Direction de la Recherche, des Etudes, de
l'Evaluation et des Statistiques (DREES). Data are from the ?Statistique Annuelle des Etablissements
de sante (SAE)?.
Reference period: 31st December.
Coverage:
- Data refer to metropolitan France and D.O.M. (overseas departments).
- Data include army hospitals from 2002 onwards.

Georgia

Source: Ministry of Health.

Germany

Germany

Source of data: Federal Statistical Office, Hospital statistics (basic data of hospitals and
prevention or rehabilitation facilities); Statistisches Bundesamt, Fachserie 12, Reihe 6.1.1, table
1.1 and ibid., Fachserie 12, Reihe 6.1.2, table 1.1; http://www.destatis.de or
http://www.gbe-bund.de.
Reference period: Annual average.
Coverage:
- Total hospital beds comprise beds in all types of hospitals (HP1.1, 1.2 and 1.3) in all sectors
(public, not-for-profit and private).
- Included are beds in general hospitals, mental health hospitals and prevention and rehabilitation
facilities.
- Beds in long-term-nursing care facilities are excluded.
- Cots for healthy infants, recovery trolleys, emergency stretchers, surgical tables and beds for
same-day care and palliative care are also not included.

Greece

Source of data: Hellenic Statistical Authority (EL.STAT.), Hospital Census.
Reference period: Annual average.

Hungary

Source of data: From 1994 Hungarian National Health Insurance Fund (OEP), Department of Financing
Informatics (GYOGYINFOK), Hospital bed and patient turnover account. http://www.gyogyinfok.hu/.
Coverage: Since 1994, this includes the number of hospital beds (all acute and all chronic care
beds) run by hospitals under contract with OEP.
Reference period: 31 December.
Break in time series:
- In 1997, there was an 8% reduction in acute beds and an 11% reduction in long-term beds.
- In 2007, the number of acute care beds in hospitals under contract with OEP decreased
significantly, and there was an increase in the number of chronic hospital beds.
- Since 2007, the number of hospital beds in justice hospitals is included.

Iceland

Source of data:
- Before 1989: Directorate of Health.
- From 1989 to 2006: The Ministry of Health and Social Security. (Reports on the activities of
hospitals 1989-2006).
- From 2007: The Ministry of Welfare.
Reference period: Annual average.
Coverage:
- Up to 2006: Beds in all hospitals.
- From 2007: Beds in hospitals (health care facilities with 24-hour access to a hospital physician).
Estimation method: Until 1988, the figures show registered beds, but 1989-1996, beds are calculated
from bed-days and 90% occupancy rate.
Break in time series: 1989, 2007.

Ireland

Source of data:
- ?Curative care beds? and ?Other hospital beds? sources:
- for 2006 onwards, source is Health Service Executive;
- for years prior to 2006, source is Department of Health and Children, Integrated Management
Returns.
- ?Psychiatric care beds? source is Mental Health Commission Annual Report.
- ?Long-term care beds? source is Health Service Executive.
Coverage:
- Total hospital beds is the sum of curative care, psychiatric care, long-term care and other beds.
- See metadata for each bed type for details on coverage and details of break in series in 2009.

Israel

Israel

Source of data: The data are based on the Medical Institutions License Registry maintained by the
Department of Medical Facilities and Equipment Licensing and the Health Information Division in the
Ministry of Health.
Reference period: End of the year.
Coverage: Includes all licensed beds in acute care, mental health and specialty hospitals, and
excludes beds in nursing and residential care facilities.
* Note: The statistical data for Israel are supplied by and under the responsibility of the relevant
Israeli authorities. The use of such data by the OECD is without prejudice to the status of the
Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and Israeli settlements in the West Bank under the terms of
international law.

Italy

Source of data: Ministry of Health - D.G. of Health Information System - Office of Statistics.
http://www.salute.gov.it/servizio/datisis.jsp.
Reference period: Annual average.
Coverage:
- All public, not for-profit and private hospitals are registered.
- Since 2000, data refer to all hospitals, public and private, including private hospitals not
accredited by the National Health Service except military hospitals.
- Before 2000, data refers to all hospitals, public and private, excluding private hospitals not
accredited by the National Health Service and military hospitals.

Latvia

Source of data: The Centre of Health Economics; Database of hospital beds' utilization;
Reference period: Up to 1999: end of the year, from 2000: mid-year.
Break in series: 2000: Change in reference period.

Lithuania

Source of data: Health Information Centre of Institute of Hygiene, data of entire annual survey of
health establishments. Report ?Health Statistics of Lithuania?, available from
http://sic.hi.lt/html/en/hsl.htm.
Reference period: 31st December
Coverage: The number of hospital beds excludes nursing beds.

Luxembourg

Source of data: National Health Insurance (CNS) - data included in the budget.
Reference period: Annual average.
Coverage: Includes the total number of beds in general hospitals, psychiatric hospitals and drug
rehabilitation in specialised hospitals (HP. 1.1 HP. 1.2 et HP. 1.3 of the ICHA-HP terminology) is
only available from 2004.
Estimation method: It is currently difficult to distinguish the in-patient beds from beds for
same-day care. Models for differentiating them are currently being studied. Their application
should clarify the situation.

Malta

Source of data: Joint collation by Department of Health Information & Research, Health Care Services
Standards, Health Division within Ministry of Health, the Elderly and Community Care and Individual
Institutions.
Reference period: end of the year
Coverage:
Strict criteria according to definitions were used in collation of available hospital beds from 2005
onwards. This will explain the shift in numbers from other years. Other hospital beds include
rehabilitation beds and respite beds.
Changes in numbers of available beds for 2007 are mainly due to restructuring and changes in numbers
of available beds with the \migration\" of the main State general Hospital in Malta (St. Luke's
Hospital) to the new \"Mater Dei Hospital\". The old State main General Hospital in Malta was closed
down. However

Montenegro

Source of data: The source for all data submitted is the Institute of Public Health. Some additional
information can be found in Health Statistical Yearbooks available at http://www.ijzcg.me/
Reference period: December 31st.
Coverage: Only data from public sector were included. Beds in Stationary Medical centers are also
included.

Netherlands

Source of data:
- 1990-2000: Annual survey Statistics Netherlands.
- 2001-2005: Prismant, annual survey.
- 2006 onwards: Annual reports social account which the hospitals are required to deliver, plus data
from the NZA (Dutch Health Authority).
Reference period:
- 1990-2000: Annual average.
- 2001 onwards: 1 January.
Coverage: Beds in general, university and specialised hospitals, as well as in mental hospitals;
includes beds for same-day care. Beds in a few hospices for terminal care and in nursing homes are
not included.
- Until 2001: Excludes cots for healthy infants.
- From 2002: Includes cots for healthy infants.
Deviation from the definition:
- 1990-1993: Average number of licensed beds.
- 1994-2005: Actual number of beds (average).
- 2006 onwards: Licensed beds.
Break in time series: 1994, 1995, 2001, 2006 and 2010 due to changes in the data source and
coverage.

North Macedonia

Source of data: Institute for Public Health-Skopje. Report for hospitals (3-21-60).
Reference period: 31st December.

Norway

Source of data: Statistics Norway. Specialist Health Services. Annual data collection.
- See http://www.ssb.no/speshelse_en/.
Reference period: Annual average.
Break in time series: 2002. The hospitals were transferred from the municipalities to the central
government in 2001.

Poland

Source of data: The Ministry of Health, the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Interior
and Administration and the Central Statistical Office.
Reference period: 31st December.
Coverage:
- From 2003 onwards, the total number of hospital beds comprise beds in all public and private
hospitals (i.e. general, psychiatric, sanatorium hospitals and specialised hospitals).
- Beds in palliative wards, rehabilitation sanatoria and sanatoria are also included.
- Beds in long-term nursing care facilities (nursing homes) are excluded.
- Beds in prison hospitals are excluded.
Break in time series:
- From 2008 onwards, due to the change in methodology of counting beds in general hospitals
introduced by the Ministry of Health, beds and incubators for newborns (neonatology wards) are
included in total number of beds of general hospitals.

Portugal

Source of data: Statistics Portugal - Hospital Survey.
Reference period: Average between the quarters.
Coverage:
- The Hospital Survey began in 1985. This survey covers the whole range of hospitals acting in
Portugal: hospitals managed by the National Health Service (public hospitals with universal access),
non-public state hospitals (military and prison) and private hospitals.
- From 1985 to 1998: Practiced allotment (beds in the general inpatient ward) plus intensive care
beds (for this period, the intensive care beds were not considered as included in the practiced
allotment). Emergency beds are included.
- 1999 onwards: Practiced allotment (including beds of infirmaries, beds of particular rooms,
intensive care beds, as well as neonatal special/intensive care beds, intermediate care beds,
blasted unit beds, and beds of other hospital units). Emergency beds are excluded.
- In both series (1985-1998 and 1999-) there are some hospital beds not included because they never
were included in the practiced allotment (other beds, like emergency services beds, operation
retrieval beds, day hospital beds, beds for newborn babies, beds for dialysis ...). Beds of
particular rooms were not included in the practiced allotment neither in total hospital beds from
1985 to 1998.
- The item ?Total hospital beds? includes long-term care beds in hospitals.
Break in time series: 1999. The strong decrease in hospital beds in 1999 is due to a break in series
associated with the exclusion of emergency beds from then on.

Republic of Moldova

Source of data: Ministry of Health of the Republic of Moldova, National Centre for Health
Management, Annual statistical report N30, enclosure 1 ?On hospital activities of health care
institutions? and statistical report N1 ?On activities of a private economical agent for health
service provision? http://cnms.md/areas/statistics/anyar/.
Reference period: Data as of December 31.
Coverage: Data exclude Transnistria.

Romania

Source of data: National Institute of Statistics and Ministry of Public Health.
Reference period: data as of 31st December.
Coverage:
From 1970 to 1998, data refer only to the public sector.
The major differences that are at the number of beds are due to multiple changes in the sanitary
network from Romania and the aim to have a more efficient sanitary activity.
Starting with 1992 hospitals analysed their efficiency as related to, among others, the number of
beds (according to the Ministry of Health policies) and it can be noticed that, as result, the
number of beds decreased considerably. In addition, some of the hospital units located in other
counties than the base hospitals were converted in independent units (hospitals). Therefore, in
1992, parallel with a significant decrease in the number of hospital beds, an increase in the number
of hospitals can be observed.
Break in the series: 1999.

Russian Federation

Not including beds used for day-cases.

San Marino

Coverage: Only public sector included.

Serbia

Data are not available.

Slovakia

Source of data: National Health Information Center. Annual report (MZ SR) on the bed fund of health
facilities in 2005 - 2010 in SR.
Reference period: 31st December.
Coverage: Beds in all hospital facilities excluding independent hospice, new-born beds (not new-born
departments) and dialysis points.

Slovenia

Source of data: The National Institute of Public Health of the Republic of Slovenia, National
Hospital Health Care Statistics Database.
Reference: Annual average.

Spain

Source of data:
- Before 1996: National Statistics Institute and Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs. Statistics
on Health Establishments Providing Inpatient Care.
http://www.ine.es/jaxi/menu.do?type=pcaxis&path=/t15/p123&file=inebase&L=0.
- From 1996 to 2009: Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equity from Statistics on Health
Establishments Providing Inpatient Care (ESCRI).
http://www.msssi.gob.es/estadEstudios/estadisticas/estHospiInternado/inforAnual/homeESCRI.htm.
- Since 2010: Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equity from Specialised Care Information
System (Sistema de Informacion de Atencion Especializada - SIAE).
Reference period: Annual average.
Coverage: All public and private hospitals in Spain are included (the total number of hospitals is
slightly lower than the total of hospitals included at the National Catalogue as some hospitals
provide statistics grouped as a complex, and some of them do not provide data).

Sweden

Source of data:
- Before 2001: Federation of Swedish County Councils and The National Board of Health and Welfare,
Basarsstatistik and Statistisk Arsbok for Landsting (several issues).
- From 2001: Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (previously The Federation of
Swedish County Councils), Statistik om halso- och sjukvard samt regional utveckling Verksamhet och
ekonomi i landsting och regioner (several issues).
Reference period:
- Before 2001: 31st December.
- From 2001: Annual average. As per 2001, the term average disposable beds is used.
Coverage:
- The data do not include all private hospital beds. Only some private beds are included.
- The figures from 1960 to 1991 include both public and private beds. After 1992 the figures do not
include private beds which are privately financed. Only some private beds are included. There are
about 8,000 private beds which are not included after 1992. The private beds from 1973-1991 are
reported under the category ?Other hospital beds?, but it is not possible to know in which
department they were used.
- In Sweden, there was a reform in 1992 called the Adelreform where about 31,000 beds in hospitals
for long-term care were transferred from the health-care sector to the social sector in the
municipalities and are now referred to as beds in nursing and residential care facilities. In 1994,
additional care beds have been taken over by the municipalities.
Break in time series: 1992 and 2001.

Switzerland

Source of data: FSO Federal Statistical Office, Neuchatel, hospital statistics; yearly census.
Deviation from the definition: Annual average number of beds in use (the number of bed-days during
the year divided by 365), for all years.
Estimation method: Until 2002 (included), extrapolation to correct for partial coverage of
hospitals.

Türkiye

Source of data: General Directorate for Health Services, Ministry of Health..
Coverage:
- Total number of beds in the MoH, universities, the private sector and others (except for the
Ministry of Defense hospital beds) are included.
- In 2013, the data have been updated since 2002. Due to changes in Hospitals and Hospital Beds
Regulations in 2008, the number of hospital beds was revised in order to fit in the definition.

Turkmenistan

Source of data: Report from of the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry of Turkmenistan. ? 17
?Health employment?
Reference period: 31 December.

United Kingdom

Source of data:
- England - Department of Health, from KH03, England;
- Northern Ireland - Hospital Activity Statistics from the Department of Health, Social Services and
Public Safety, Korner Return Kh03a;
- Wales - Health Statistics Wales,
http://wales.gov.uk/topics/statistics/headlines/health2010/0114/?lang=en.
- Scotland - ISD Scotland, NHS National Service Scotland;
http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Finance/Costs/Files/ISD(S)1_Manual.pdf.
Reference period: Annual average.
Coverage:
- Does not include private sector.
- Data are for financial years (1st April to 31st March). E.g. data for financial year 1st April
2008 - 31st March 2009 are presented as 2008.
Deviation from the definition: Cots for healthy infants cannot be excluded from Northern Ireland
figures.
Break in time series:
- England: The data from 2010 are lower because the methodology changed. From Quarter 1 2010/11 the
KH03 collection was changed to a quarterly collection. The classification for bed occupancy was
changed from ward type to the consultant specialty of the responsible consultant. This followed
consultation with the NHS, as concerns had been expressed that the ward classifications, which were
set in the late 1980s, were no longer relevant.