Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2014-06-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the availability of beds for accident and emergency patients.

Earl Howe

Not all patients who attend accident and emergency departments are admitted into hospital and require a bed. In 2013-14, 24% of 21.8 million accident and emergency attendances resulted in an emergency admission. Information is collected every quarter on bed availability and occupancy, including general and acute beds. In 2013-14 there were, on average, 135,964 general and acute beds open overnight, of which 88.0% were occupied. Information is collected every month on critical care bed availability and occupancy. In 2013-14 there were, on average, 4,274 adult and paediatric critical care beds, of which 82.9% were occupied. This information does not separately identify bed availability or occupancy for patients admitted via accident and emergency or any other admission method.