UK Health System Physical Resources and Utilization

Hospital beds per 1,000 population
– 2023: 2.4
– 2013: 2.8
Occupancy rate of curative acute care beds (%)
– 2022: 80.9%
– 2013: 87.6%
Average length of stay in hospital for curative (acute) care (days)
– 2023: 7.5
– 2019: 6.2
Mammography screening within the past two years (% of women aged 50-69 screened) (data refer to England only)
– 2023: 66%
– 2013: 76%
Cervical cancer screening coverage (% of women screened), 2023: 69%
Colorectal cancer screening coverage (% of target population screened), 2023: 72%
Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease hospital admissions in adults (age-sex standardized rate per 100,000 population)
– 2023: 254
– 2013: 319
Congestive heart failure hospital admissions in adults (age-sex standardized rate per 100,000 population)
– 2023: 111
– 2013: 114
Diabetes hospital admissions in adults (age-sex standardized rate per 100,000 population)
– 2023: 82
– 2013: 71
Community pharmacies per 100,000 population, 2023: 21
CT scanners per million population (Data exclude equipment outside hospital), 2023: 10
MRI units per million population (Data exclude equipment outside hospital), 2023: 9
PET scanners per million population (Data exclude equipment outside hospital), 2023: 1
CT exams per 1,000 population (Data exclude exams outside hospital), 2022: 124
MRI exams per 1,000 population (Data exclude exams outside hospital), 2022: 69
PET exams per 1,000 population (Data exclude exams outside hospital), 2022: 4
Long-term care beds in institutions per 1,000 population aged 65 years or over
– 2023: 41.3
– 2013: 49.4

Source: OECD (2025), Health at a Glance 2025: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, doi.org/10.1787/8f9e3f98-en.

Hospital Beds Per 1,000 Population (2017): 2.54
Nurse-To-Hospital-Bed Ratio (FTE) (2017): NA
Doctors Consultations (2017): NA
Hospital Average Length of Stay (All Causes) (2017): 6.8 Days
Computed Tomography Scanners (Per Million Population) (2017):
Magnetic Imaging Resonance Units (Per Million Population) (2017):
Mammographs (Per Million Population) (2017):

Source: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. OECD.Stat. Last accessed April 22, 2022.

“The number of acute hospital beds is the second lowest in the EU (after Sweden) at 2.5 per 1,000 in 2016 (well below the EU average of 5.0 per 1 000). Average length of stay (ALOS) has also declined steadily, to 6.9 days in 2017, compared with the EU average of 7.9 days. These trends can be attributed, in part, to a greater focus on more cost-effective outpatient care and day surgery. However, low hospital bed numbers, high occupancy rates and increasing demand for inpatient care has limited the system’s ability to absorb shocks (Section 5.3).”

Source: OECD/European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (2019), United Kingdom: Country Health Profile 2019, State of Health in the EU, OECD Publishing, Paris/European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, Brussels.

“The overall number of hospital beds in the United Kingdom is lower than most other high-income countries, and has decreased between 2000 and 2018, from 4.1 to 2.5 beds per 1000 people (Fig. 4.1). This trend is seen in most high-income countries, and in part, reflects trends such as an increasing use of day surgery, reduced length of stay and a shift to provide care closer to home in the community. Numbers of hospital beds do also vary across the United Kingdom (Box 4.1), with England having lower numbers of hospitals beds per 1000 people than in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. During the COVID-19 pandemic it became clear that the NHS in each United Kingdom country had little excess capacity, particularly in critical care (Rocks & Idriss, 2020). In response, the United Kingdom quickly expanded critical capacity, and invested in the development of temporary hospitals known as Nightingale Hospitals, which were often converted convention centres, although these were ultimately underutilised.”

Source: Anderson M, Pitchforth E, Edwards N, Alderwick H, McGuire A, Mossialos E. The United Kingdom: Health system review. Health Systems in Transition, 2022; 24(1): i–192.

“Medical products and services were purchased piecemeal before 2000 but, after the formation of the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency in England, purchasing was largely centralised until the Agency was disbanded in 2010. All non-clinical purchasing was passed to the public sector procurement agency, Government Procurement Service, while pharmaceuticals procurement was passed to the Commercial Medicines Unit under the DHSC. The purchasing of other medical supplies, including personal protective equipment, is undertaken by NHS Supply Chain. In Scotland, all procurement is undertaken by NHS National Procurement, which is part of NHS National Services Scotland. In Wales, the Shared Services Partnership purchases on behalf of the LHBs and trusts. In Northern Ireland, the Procurement and Logistics Service, part of the Business Services Organisation, which is an organisation that provided business support functions to the health and social care sector in Northern Ireland, manages procurement.

“According to the latest available data, the United Kingdom has fewer computed tomography (CT) scanners and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) units per capita than other countries in Europe (Table 4.1). As the United Kingdom continues to have poorer cancer survival than most other high-income countries (Allemani et al., 2018), in part due to delayed diagnosis, there is a growing need to review diagnostic capacity across the United Kingdom. This will be challenging because a significant proportion of diagnostic capacity in the United Kingdom, particularly for MRI scanners, is supplied through private providers, rather than within NHS hospitals.”

Source: Anderson M, Pitchforth E, Edwards N, Alderwick H, McGuire A, Mossialos E. The United Kingdom: Health system review. Health Systems in Transition, 2022; 24(1): i–192.

World Health Systems Facts is a project of the Real Reporting Foundation. We provide reliable statistics and other data from authoritative sources regarding health systems and policies in the US and eighteen other nations.

Page last updated September 11, 2026 by Doug McVay, Editor.