Highest ever level for overnight bed occupancy

Despite the 85 per cent safe limit for bed occupancy, new figures have shown that the average overnight occupancy in hospitals from January to March this year rose to 91.4 per cent.

Representing the highest figures on record, health experts have warned that bed occupancy is threatening to put patient safety at risk, suggesting that high demand for social care services was meaning that fit patients were unable to move out of hospital as there was no room in community care.

Bed occupancy rates for mental health services were also close to record levels.

Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, responded to the figures saying: “We know the quality of care, including patient safety, can be compromised when bed occupancy rises above 85 per cent. This puts staff under intolerable pressure. There is an increased risk of infection. And crucially, it means hospitals have less capacity to cope with unpredictable events.

“NHS trusts are working at capacity levels beyond those which other international health systems would regard as acceptable, with fewer beds per head of population. The pressure has been compounded by delays in discharging medically fit patients from hospitals, often because of problems arranging social care. There has also been a worrying fall in intermediate out of hospital bed capacity. The situation is unsustainable. We have to ensure the NHS has the capacity to deal with growing demand. And we must act quickly, to prepare for next winter.”