National Health Service: Hospital Beds

Lord Campbell-Savours Excerpts

Wednesday 11th June 2014 Lords Chamber

[Earl Howe]

My noble friend makes the case very eloquently that it is very difficult to compare different health systems. We should pay credit to the NHS for performing very efficiently and effectively in the face of rising demand over recent years.

[Lord Campbell-Savours (Lab)]

My Lords, is there any linkage between hospital-acquired infections and the reduction in the number of beds?

[Earl Howe]

My Lords, no. By comparing the OECD bed-provision data and the 2011 joint prevalence survey, the available European data indicate that bed provision and healthcare-associated infection rates across countries are not correlated. Indeed, as I have said, we have seen a dramatic fall in the number of healthcare-associated infections in hospitals, combined with a rising level of demand for in-patient beds.