Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many (a) hospital beds and (b) physicians per 1,000 people there (i) are at present and (ii) were in 2010; and what the UK's global ranking for those measures (A) is at present and (B) was in 2010.

The information requested is in the table below.

Number of beds¹ and physicians² per 1,000 people in England in 2010 and present³ and the global ranking of the United Kingdom⁴ for those measures⁵

Source: Beds availability and occupancy, NHS England. Office for National Statistics population mid-year estimates and projections and 2011 census. Workforce statistics, NHS Digital. OECD global ranking data.

Notes:

1. Number of available consultant-led beds open overnight.
2. All doctors in General Practice and Hospital and Community Health Services
3. The most current available data has been used.
4. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) data for hospital beds in 2010 and 2014 as the latest complete dataset.
5. OECD data on number of beds per capita should only be used to make international comparisons with caution, because of inconsistencies in the basis and coverage of the data. The OECD report may not be comparing like with like. For example, some European countries may have included nursing home beds or private sector beds in their figures, which would not be included in the UK figures. In addition, differences between European health systems make comparisons very difficult. Some countries still have large long-stay hospitals for people with mental health problems and older people, whilst England has very few such facilities. The National Health Service also has a strong tradition of primary care and is committed to providing proactive support particularly to frail older people and those with long term conditions in the community.
6. UK global ranking data is not held centrally for physicians.