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.

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.

This publication reports on Outpatient activity in England for the financial year 2023-24. This report includes but is not limited to analysis of hospital outpatient appointments by patient demographics, diagnoses, attendance type, operations, specialty and provider level analysis. It describes NHS outpatient appointments in England, rather than the number of patients. The purpose of this publication is to inform and support strategic and policy-led processes for the benefit of patient care and may also be of interest to researchers, journalists and members of the public interested in NHS hospital activity in England. The data source for this publication is Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), which come from the HES data warehouse containing details of all admissions and outpatient appointments at National Health Service (NHS) hospitals in England. It includes private patients treated in NHS hospitals, patients who were resident outside of England and care delivered by treatment centres (including those in the independent sector) funded by the NHS. Please send queries or feedback via email to enquiries@nhsdigital.nhs.uk. Author: Secondary Care Open Data and Publications, NHS England. Lead Analyst: Karl Eichler.

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. https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/hospital-accident--emergency-activity

In 2023, 64 percent of services received at NHS acute hospitals were considered good, whereas 25 percent required improvement. This statistic displays the overall rating of NHS acute hospitals core services in England as of August 2023.

This publication reports on Admitted Patient Care activity in England for the financial year 2023-24. This report includes but is not limited to analysis of hospital episodes by patient demographics, diagnoses, external causes/injuries, operations, bed days, admission method, time waited, specialty, provider level analysis and Adult Critical Care (ACC). It describes NHS Admitted Patient Care Activity, Adult Critical Care activity and performance in hospitals in England. The purpose of this publication is to inform and support strategic and policy-led processes for the benefit of patient care and may also be of interest to researchers, journalists and members of the public interested in NHS hospital activity in England. The data source for this publication is Hospital Episode Statistics (HES). It contains final data and replaces the provisional data that are released each month. HES contains records of all admissions, appointments and attendances at NHS-commissioned hospital services in England. The HES data used in this publication are called 'Finished Consultant Episodes', and each episode relates to a period of care for a patient under a single consultant at a single hospital. Therefore, this report counts the number of episodes of care for admitted patients rather than the number of patients. This publication shows the number of episodes during the period, with breakdowns including by patient's age, gender, diagnosis, procedure involved and by provider. Please send queries or feedback via email to enquiries@nhsdigital.nhs.uk. Author: Secondary Care Open Data and Publications, NHS England. Lead Analyst: Karl Eichler

United Kingdom UK: Hospital Beds: per 1000 People data was reported at 2.900 Number in 2011. This records a decrease from the previous number of 2.980 Number for 2010. United Kingdom UK: Hospital Beds: per 1000 People data is updated yearly, averaging 4.600 Number from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2011, with 23 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 10.700 Number in 1960 and a record low of 2.900 Number in 2011. United Kingdom UK: Hospital Beds: per 1000 People data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United Kingdom – Table UK.World Bank.WDI: Health Statistics. Hospital beds include inpatient beds available in public, private, general, and specialized hospitals and rehabilitation centers. In most cases beds for both acute and chronic care are included.; ; Data are from the World Health Organization, supplemented by country data.; Weighted average;

In 2023/24, approximately one in three deliveries were among women aged 30 to 34 years old in England, making this group the one with the highest amount of births in the country, reaching a total of over 180 thousand deliveries.

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.

This is a report on adult critical care activity in English NHS hospitals and English NHS-commissioned activity in the independent sector. This annual publication covers the financial year ending March 2016. It contains final data and replaces the provisional data that are released each month. The data are taken from the Hospital Episodes Statistics (HES) data warehouse. HES contains records of all admissions, appointments and attendances for patients admitted to NHS hospitals in England. The HES data used in this publication draws on records submitted by providers as an attachment to the admitted patient care record. This publication shows the number of adult critical care records during the period, with a number of breakdowns including admission details, discharge details, patient demographics and clinical information. The purpose of this publication is to inform and support strategic and policy-led processes for the benefit of patient care. This document will also be of interest to researchers, journalists and members of the public interested in NHS hospital activity in England.

The number of admissions to NHS hospitals in England, both elective and emergency, increased year-on-year from 2014 to 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, hospital admissions dropped in 2020/21, especially elective admissions. In 2023/24 there were 9.2 million elective admissions and 6.5 million emergency admissions. Numbers have therefore returned to and exceeded pre-pandemic amounts. A total of 17.5 million admissions were recorded in 2023/24, including other methods of admission.

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

During the financial year 2023/24, the busiest hospital provider in England was the ************************************************ with over *** thousand admissions. This trust encompasses four hospitals in the Birmingham area, one of the largest urban areas in England. The second-busiest trust this year was the ******************************************, with approximately *** thousand admissions. Accident and emergency admissionsFrom April to June 2023, there were around *** million accident and emergency (A&E) attendees (including at A&E departments not in hospitals) in England. After the drop in A&E attendances during the COVID-pandemic, numbers have risen again to previous levels, with a trend towards an increasing number of individuals seeking emergency care. Over ***** percent of A&E attendees in England in 2022/23 were first diagnosed with a sprained ankle, knee, wrist, or foot, and over **** percent were diagnosed with a respiratory infection. Furthermore, *** percent were found to have ‘no abnormality detected’ which could be detrimental to a service that is already stretched. Waiting too longOver the last few years in the A&E department, the NHS has been falling behind the target that ** percent of patients should be seen within **** hours of arrival. The last time this target was reached was back in July 2015. Not just the A&E department, but other services also require lengthy waits. It is no wonder that the ******** of respondents surveyed were fairly or very dissatisfied with the length of wait for many aspects of NHS care. Moreover, in general, levels of satisfaction with the way NHS runs is at an all-time low.

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"

Introduction: Although hospitals are key health service providers, their financial ties to drug companies have been rarely scrutinised. In developing this body of work, we examine industry payments for non-research activities to National Health Service (NHS) trusts – hospital groupings providing publicly funded secondary and tertiary care in England. Methods: We extracted data from the industry-run Disclosure UK database, analysing payment distribution descriptively and identifying trends in medians with the Jonckheere-Terpstra test. The payment value and number per NHS trust were explained using random effects models. Results: Between 2015 and 2018, 116 companies reported paying £60,253,421.86 to 235 trusts. As a share of payments to all healthcare organisations the number of payments to trusts rose from 38.64% to 39.48%, but their value dropped from 33.01% to 23.61%. While the number of all payment types rose, fees for service and consultancy and contributions to costs of events increased by 61.55% and 29.43%, respectively. The median payment values decreased significantly for trusts overall, including those with lower autonomy from central government; providing acute services; and from four of the eight regions of England. The random effects model showed that trusts with all other service profiles received a significantly lower value of payments on average than acute trusts; and trusts from East England received significantly less than those from London. However, trusts enjoying greater autonomy from government did not receive significantly more payments than others. Trusts also received significantly lower (but not fewer) payments in 2018 than in 2015. Conclusion: NHS trusts were losing importance as funding targets relative to other healthcare organisations. Industry payment strategies shifted towards engaging with NHS trusts using events sponsorship, consultancies, and smaller payments. Industry prioritised payments to trusts with specific service and geographical profiles. More granular disclosure is necessary to understand the role of corporate funding across the health system.

Hospital services are currently being stretched at the seams as they struggle to navigate financial constraints and workforce shortages while appointment waiting times remain high. Hospitals faced unrivalled pressure during the COVID-19 outbreak and this necessitated the release of significant government funding to help hospitals boost their capacity to treat afflicted patients. According to the King’s Fund, NHS funding rose from £148.9 billion in 2019-20 to £191 billion in 2020-21. Hospitals are still facing long elective backlogs, growing by around 100,000 cases monthly, according to the BMA. Over the five years through 2024-25, industry revenue is therefore expected to marginally rise at a compound annual rate of 0.2% to reach £115.1 billion. Hospitals are contending with stagnant real-term funding growth, exacerbated by inflationary pressures in the three years through 2024-25 and increasing demand for healthcare services due to a growing and ageing population. NHS England has a planned 2024-25 budget of £165 billion in real terms, which is only a 0.2% rise on 2023-24. In March 2025, the government announced plans to abolish NHS England, in a move to remove administrative hurdles it feels are preventing improvements in the hospital sector. Hospitals have been pressured to manage costs while dealing with a workforce crisis, highlighted by dependency on temporary staff to maintain safe staffing levels. Public healthcare budgets have failed to keep pace with soaring demand. Hospitals are struggling to match pre-COVID-19 activity levels, which has boosted demand for private hospitals as more patients seek private treatment. As a result, industry revenue is projected to grow by 0.9% in 2024-25. Revenue is estimated to climb at a compound annual rate of 2.3% over the five years through 2029-30 to £128.7 billion. Hospitals’ performance will depend on how much funding is available for an already over-burdened institution. The Labour government’s plan for hospitals over the next decade will be released in spring 2025 which will determine what resources are at the industry’s disposal in the coming years. With workforce shortages projected to worsen without substantial investments in training and recruitment, hospitals will need a plan to build a sustainable long-term staffing model. Dependency on international recruitment will become more of a challenge as global healthcare systems grapple with their own workforce shortages. Embracing technological advancements and digitisation like virtual wards will be key to improving efficiency and patient care, with planned capital funding aimed at transforming medical technology.

As of September 2024, there were 146,387 full-time equivalent (FTE) doctors in NHS Hospitals and Community Health Services (HCHS) in England, which is more than two thousand times the number reported in September 1995.

The NHS is split into primary care - a first point of contact - usually provided by GPs, dentist and pharmacists, secondary 'hospital and community' care, and tertiary care such as specialized treatment e.g. neurosurgery and transplants. Secondary and tertiary care are provided by NHS trust or NHS foundation trusts. During the financial year 2023/24, there were a total of *** NHS providers. The majority of these providers provide acute services such as accident and emergency care. This statistic shows the number of National Health Service (NHS) providers in England during 2023/24, by service.

This dataset shows the location of NHS and other health care sites in Great Britain. Over 12,000 locations are shown and each has a number of attributes such as whether they are private or state sites, dispensing or non-dispensing and their designation (GP, Hospital, Community Hospital). This data was kindly supplied by Keith MacDonald of www.doctors.net.uk The data was originally sourced from the NHS website at the following location: http://www.nhs.uk/servicedirectories/Pages/ServiceSearch.aspx. GIS vector data. This dataset was first accessioned in the EDINA ShareGeo Open repository on 2011-08-08 and migrated to Edinburgh DataShare on 2017-02-21.