In 2022, there were an estimated 2,001 hospitals in the United Kingdom. The number of hospitals in the UK had been declining prior to 2015, standing at 1,568 in 2014, before slightly rising again in the subsequent years.

Healthcare indicators

Expenditure on health in the UK amounted to 11.3 percent of the GDP in 2022. This proportion has been increasing since 2000, with 2020 and 201 being outliers. The pressure on general practices has been increasing in the UK in the last ten years. In 2016, there were 7.8 thousand patients to each GP practice on average in the NHS England. By 2023 it came to ten thousand patients to a practice.

Opinion of healthcare in the country

The quality of British healthcare is still generally regarded as good by the majority. In a survey of nine European countries, 58 percent of British respondents rated the quality of their accessible healthcare as good, while only 14 percent regarded it as poor. This was the fifth place among countries surveyed, down from its top spot in 2018, when 73 percent of the public gave good rating. Similarly, 58 percent of Brits surveyed trusted the treatment offered, compared to only 18 percent who did not.

Publication changes: Please read the section on 'Notes on changes to publications' within the PDF report as this highlights changes to data currently published and potentially future reports. This report shows monthly numbers of NHS Hospital and Community Health Service (HCHS) staff groups working in Trusts and CCGs in England (excluding primary care staff). Data is available as headcount and full-time equivalents. This data is an accurate summary of the validated data extracted from the NHS's HR and Payroll system. In addition to the regular monthly reports there are a series of quarterly reports which include statistics on staff in Trusts and CCGs and information for NHS Support Organisations and Central Bodies. The quarterly analysis is published each September (June data), December (September data), March (December data) and June (March data). Additional healthcare workforce data relating to GPs and the Independent Healthcare Provider workforce are also available via the Related Links below. This publication of April 2020 data features a supplementary file which shows trends in HCHS workforce data observed during the NHS response to the Covid-19 pandemic. We welcome feedback on the methodology and tables within this publication. Please email us with your comments and suggestions, clearly stating Monthly HCHS Workforce as the subject heading, via enquiries@nhsdigital.nhs.uk or 0300 303 5678

The number of hospital beds in the United Kingdom has undergone a decline since the year 2000. Whereas in 2000, there were around 240 thousand beds in the UK, by 2020 this figure was approximately 163 thousand. This means over this period there were over 80 thousand fewer hospital beds in the UK. However in the recent years since 2020, the number of hospital beds have been increasing, the first time in the recorded time period.

Fewer beds but admissions are still high

There were almost 16.4 million admissions to hospital between April 2022 to March 2023 in England. The number of admissions has recovered somewhat since the drop in year 2020/21. The busiest hospital trust in England by admissions in the year 2022/23 was the University Hospitals Birmingham Foundation Trust with over 333 thousand admissions. The average length of stay in hospitals in the UK in 2021 for acute care was seven days.

Accident and Emergency

In the first quarter of 2023/24, A&E in England received around 6.5 million attendees. The number of attendances has been creeping upwards since 2012. Around 2.4 percent of people attending A&E in the last year were diagnosed with an upper respiratory condition, followed by 1.8 percent with a lower respiratory tract infection.

Mid-year (30 June) estimates of the usual resident population for health geographies in England and Wales.

Forecast: Number of Hospital Beds in Publicly Owned Hospitals in the UK 2024 - 2028 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

This report shows monthly numbers of NHS Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS) staff working in NHS Trusts and other core organisations in England (excluding primary care staff). Data are available as headcount and full-time equivalents and for all months from 30 September 2009 onwards. These data are a summary of the validated data extracted from the NHS HR and Payroll system. Additional statistics on staff in NHS Trusts and other core organisations and information for NHS Support Organisations and Central Bodies are published each: September (showing June statistics) December/January (showing September statistics) March (showing December statistics) June (showing March statistics) Quarterly NHS Staff Earnings, monthly NHS Staff Sickness Absence reports, and data relating to the General Practice workforce and the Independent Healthcare Provider workforce are also available via the Related Links below. We welcome feedback on the methodology and tables within this publication. Please email us with your comments and suggestions, clearly stating Monthly HCHS Workforce as the subject heading, via enquiries@nhsdigital.nhs.uk or 0300 303 5678.

The number of admissions has increased year-on-year from 2000 to 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, hospital admission dropped in 2020/21. In 2023/24 there were around 17.6 million admissions* to NHS hospitals in England, showing that admission numbers have reached and exceeded pre-pandemic levels.

Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) is a database containing details of all admissions, A and E attendances and outpatient appointments at NHS hospitals in England.

Initially this data is collected during a patient's time at hospital as part of the Commissioning Data Set (CDS). This is submitted to NHS Digital for processing and is returned to healthcare providers as the Secondary Uses Service (SUS) data set and includes information relating to payment for activity undertaken. It allows hospitals to be paid for the care they deliver.

This same data can also be processed and used for non-clinical purposes, such as research and planning health services. Because these uses are not to do with direct patient care, they are called 'secondary uses'. This is the HES data set.

HES data covers all NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) in England, including:

• private patients treated in NHS hospitals
• patients resident outside of England
• care delivered by treatment centres (including those in the independent sector) funded by the NHS

Each HES record contains a wide range of information about an individual patient admitted to an NHS hospital, including:

• clinical information about diagnoses and operations
• patient information, such as age group, gender and ethnicity
• administrative information, such as dates and methods of admission and discharge
• geographical information such as where patients are treated and the area where they live

We apply a strict statistical disclosure control in accordance with the NHS Digital protocol, to all published HES data. This suppresses small numbers to stop people identifying themselves and others, to ensure that patient confidentiality is maintained.

Timescales for dissemination can be found under 'Our Service Levels' at the following link: https://digital.nhs.uk/services/data-access-request-service-dars/data-access-request-service-dars-process

Forecast: Number of Hospital in the UK 2022 - 2026 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

The National Child Development Study (NCDS) is a continuing longitudinal study that seeks to follow the lives of all those living in Great Britain who were born in one particular week in 1958. The aim of the study is to improve understanding of the factors affecting human development over the whole lifespan.

The NCDS has its origins in the Perinatal Mortality Survey (PMS) (the original PMS study is held at the UK Data Archive under SN 2137). This study was sponsored by the National Birthday Trust Fund and designed to examine the social and obstetric factors associated with stillbirth and death in early infancy among the 17,000 children born in England, Scotland and Wales in that one week. Selected data from the PMS form NCDS sweep 0, held alongside NCDS sweeps 1-3, under SN 5565.

Survey and Biomeasures Data (GN 33004):
To date there have been nine attempts to trace all members of the birth cohort in order to monitor their physical, educational and social development. The first three sweeps were carried out by the National Children's Bureau, in 1965, when respondents were aged 7, in 1969, aged 11, and in 1974, aged 16 (these sweeps form NCDS1-3, held together with NCDS0 under SN 5565). The fourth sweep, also carried out by the National Children's Bureau, was conducted in 1981, when respondents were aged 23 (held under SN 5566). In 1985 the NCDS moved to the Social Statistics Research Unit (SSRU) - now known as the Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS). The fifth sweep was carried out in 1991, when respondents were aged 33 (held under SN 5567). For the sixth sweep, conducted in 1999-2000, when respondents were aged 42 (NCDS6, held under SN 5578), fieldwork was combined with the 1999-2000 wave of the 1970 Birth Cohort Study (BCS70), which was also conducted by CLS (and held under GN 33229). The seventh sweep was conducted in 2004-2005 when the respondents were aged 46 (held under SN 5579), the eighth sweep was conducted in 2008-2009 when respondents were aged 50 (held under SN 6137) and the ninth sweep was conducted in 2013 when respondents were aged 55 (held under SN 7669).

Four separate datasets covering responses to NCDS over all sweeps are available. National Child Development Deaths Dataset: Special Licence Access (SN 7717) covers deaths; National Child Development Study Response and Outcomes Dataset (SN 5560) covers all other responses and outcomes; National Child Development Study: Partnership Histories (SN 6940) includes data on live-in relationships; and National Child Development Study: Activity Histories (SN 6942) covers work and non-work activities. Users are advised to order these studies alongside the other waves of NCDS.

From 2002-2004, a Biomedical Survey was completed and is available under End User Licence (EUL) (SN 8731) and Special Licence (SL) (SN 5594). Proteomics analyses of blood samples are available under SL SN 9254.

Linked Geographical Data (GN 33497):
A number of geographical variables are available, under more restrictive access conditions, which can be linked to the NCDS EUL and SL access studies.

Linked Administrative Data (GN 33396):
A number of linked administrative datasets are available, under more restrictive access conditions, which can be linked to the NCDS EUL and SL access studies. These include a Deaths dataset (SN 7717) available under SL and the Linked Health Administrative Datasets (SN 8697) available under Secure Access.

Additional Sub-Studies (GN 33562):
In addition to the main NCDS sweeps, further studies have also been conducted on a range of subjects such as parent migration, unemployment, behavioural studies and respondent essays. The full list of NCDS studies available from the UK Data Service can be found on the NCDS series access data webpage.

How to access genetic and/or bio-medical sample data from a range of longitudinal surveys:
For information on how to access biomedical data from NCDS that are not held at the UKDS, see the CLS Genetic data and biological samples webpage.

Further information about the full NCDS series can be found on the Centre for Longitudinal Studies website.

The National Child Development Study: Linked Health Administrative Datasets (Hospital Episode Statistics), England, 1997-2017: Secure Access includes data files from the NHS Digital HES database for those cohort members who provided consent to health data linkage in the Age 50 sweep. The HES database contains information about all hospital admissions in England. The following linked HES data are available:

1) Accident and Emergency (A&E)
The A&E dataset details each attendance to an Accident and Emergency care facility in England, between 01-04-2007 and 31-03-2017 (inclusive). It includes major A&E departments, single speciality A&E departments, minor injury units and walk-in centres in England.

2) Admitted Patient Care (APC)
The APC data summarises episodes of care for admitted patients, where the episode occurred between 01-04-1997 and 31-03-2017 (inclusive).

3) Critical Care (CC)
The CC dataset covers records of critical care activity between 01-04-2009 and 31-03-2017 (inclusive).

4) Out Patient (OP)
The OP dataset lists the outpatient appointments between 01-04-2003 and 31-03-2017 (inclusive).

CLS/ NHS Digital Sub-licence agreement
NHS Digital has given CLS permission for onward sharing of the Next Steps/HES dataset via the UKDS Secure Lab. In order to ensure data minimisation, NHS Digital requires that researchers only access the HES variables needed for their approved research project. Therefore, the HES linked data provided by the UKDS to approved researchers will be subject to sub-setting of variables. The researcher will need to request a specific sub-set of variables from the Next Steps HES data dictionary, which will subsequently make available within their UKDS Secure Account. Once the researcher has finished their research, the UKDS will delete the tailored dataset for that specific project. Any party wishing to access the data deposited at the UK Data Service will be required to enter into a Licence agreement with CLS (UCL), in addition to the agreements signed with the UKDS, provided in the application pack.

Latest edition information
For the second edition (September 2022), 7 previously unavailable variables have been added to the A&E, APC and OP data files. The User Guide has also been updated, along with the variable list, to reflect the changes.

The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) has published the Public Health Outcomes Framework (PHOF) quarterly data update for February 2022.

The data is presented in an interactive tool that allows users to view it in a user-friendly format. The data tool also provides links to further supporting information, to aid understanding of public health in a local population.

43 indicators have been updated in this release:

• life expectancy and Inequality in life expectancy at birth and at 65
• 10 indicators from the wider determinants of health domain, including the number of 16-17 year olds not in education, employment or training (NEET), adults in stable accommodation, sickness absence, killed and seriously injured (KSI) casualties on England’s roads, homelessness, domestic abuse and violent crime admissions
• 28 indicators from the health improvement domain including low birth weight of term babies, screening coverage, successful completion of alcohol and drug treatment, hospital admissions related to children and older people and self-reported wellbeing
• 2 indicators from the health protection domain showing Population vaccination coverage - PPV and shingles vaccination coverage
• 1 indicator from the healthcare and premature mortality domain showing hospital admissions for hip fractures

See links to indicators updated document for full details of what’s in this update.

View previous Public Health Outcomes Framework data tool updates.

Initially this data is collected during a patient's time at hospital as part of the Commissioning Data Set (CDS). This is submitted to NHS Digital for processing and is returned to healthcare providers as the Secondary Uses Service (SUS) data set and includes information relating to payment for activity undertaken. It allows hospitals to be paid for the care they deliver. This same data can also be processed and used for non-clinical purposes, such as research and planning health services. Because these uses are not to do with direct patient care, they are called 'secondary uses'. This is the SUS data set. SUS data covers all NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) in England, including: • private patients treated in NHS hospitals • patients resident outside of England • care delivered by treatment centres (including those in the independent sector) funded by the NHS Each SUS record contains a wide range of information about an individual patient admitted to an NHS hospital, including: • clinical information about diagnoses and operations • patient information, such as age group, gender and ethnicity • administrative information, such as dates and methods of admission and discharge • geographical information such as where patients are treated and the area where they live NHS Digital apply a strict statistical disclosure control in accordance with the NHS Digital protocol, to all published SUS data. This suppresses small numbers to stop people identifying themselves and others, to ensure that patient confidentiality is maintained.

Who SUS is for SUS provides data for the purpose of healthcare analysis to the NHS, government and others including:

The Secondary Users Service (SUS) database is made up of many data items relating to A&E care delivered by NHS hospitals in England. Many of these items form part of the national Commissioning Data Set (CDS), and are generated by the patient administration systems within each hospital. • national bodies and regulators, such as the Department of Health, NHS England, Public Health England, NHS Improvement and the CQC • local Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) • provider organisations • government departments • researchers and commercial healthcare bodies • National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) • patients, service users and carers • the media

Uses of the statistics The statistics are known to be used for: • national policy making • benchmarking performance against other hospital providers or CCGs
• academic research • analysing service usage and planning change • providing advice to ministers and answering a wide range of parliamentary questions • national and local press articles • international comparison More information can be found at https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/data-tools-and-services/data-services/hospital-episode-statistics https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/hospital-accident--emergency-activity"

Forecast: Number of Hospital Beds in the UK 2022 - 2026 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

The number of hospital employees in the health sector in the United Kingdom increased by 84,452.6 employees (+5.36 percent) in 2021 in comparison to the previous year. Therefore, the number of hospital employees in the United Kingdom reached a peak in 2021 with 1,660,883.41 employees. Total hospital employment includes the headcount of all people employed in a hospital structure and the number of full-time equivalents (FTE). These broad employment figures encompass general or specialty hospitals and self-employment or service contracts.Find more key insights for the number of hospital employees in the health sector in countries like Denmark, Spain, and Greece.

Deaths covering Smoking only to 2019.

Forecast: Number of Hospital Beds in the UK 2024 - 2028 Discover more data with ReportLinker!