Hospital beds down and assistance long -term expanding: it is the photography of the European Health done byEurostat for the year 2023.
And on this front, Italy does not pass it well at all: with 304 beds Everything is fine 100,000 inhabitantsour country is well below the European average, which settles at 511. And there is a particular deficiency especially as regards psychiatric beds, which are practically equal to a tenth of the EU average.
More beds is not synonymous with better healthcare
Before entering in detail, it should be specified that the photography of European health in 2023 reveals a system that is gradually oriented towards more territorial and less “Centra” Hospital models. The drop in hospital beds is not only the result of any cutsbut also the reflection of a medicine that year after year it becomes more targeted And less invasive.
According to the data released by the European Commission, in 2023 on average, as mentioned, on average 511 hospital beds per 100,000 inhabitants in the EU, decreasing compared to 516 of 2022 and even more than 557 in 2013 were available on average.
Among the countries of the European Union, Bulgaria has recorded the highest relationship. These are European countries with greater availability of beds:
- Bulgaria 864 hospital beds per 100,000 inhabitants;
- Germany 766;
- Romania 728;
- Austria 660;
- Hungary 651.
At the opposite extreme, seven EU countries count less than 300 beds per 100,000 inhabitants:
- Sweden 187;
- Netherlands 231;
- Denmark 233;
- Finland 260;
- Spain 288;
- Ireland 289;
- Cyprus 298.
Also in this case it is necessary to make a clarification: the high efficiency of the Nordic healthcare model, which is based on a strong territorial support And homepartly explains these contained numbers.
How many beds are in the European Union
In 2023 the EU counted almost 2.3 million Of beds hospitalof which 75% intended for “curative” care. The remaining 25% consisted of rehabilitation beds and those for long -term assistance.
The differences from country to country are remarkable: in Poland, for example, rehabilitation beds represent over 30% of the total, against less than 2% in Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Finland. For long -term assistance, only the Czech Republic (28.8%) and Croatia (17.7%) exceed 16%of the total beds, while in Germany, the Netherlands and Portugal this type is completely absent from hospitals.
The trend: less hospital beds, more alternative assistance
Overall, between 2013 and 2023, the number of hospital beds in the EU decreased by 7%. The most marked reductions are recorded in Finland (-45%), while increases were recorded in Bulgaria (+13%), Ireland (+30%), Malta (+8%) and Romania (+4%). The dynamics of the beds for healing treatments is then highlighted, increased only in 5 countries (including Bulgaria, Ireland, Romania, Malta and Spain), while they decreased in the rest of Europe, in particular in Lithuania (-197 read per 100,000 inhabitants).
The rehabilitation beds also show growth in 9 countries, with Bulgaria in the lead (+31 beds per 100,000 inhabitants), in the face of significant drops in Hungary and Malta.
As for long -term assistance, 12 countries have reduced the offer, with the striking case of Finland, where the beds went from 162 to 32 per 100,000 inhabitants. However, Malta, Luxembourg and Bulgaria have recorded the major increases, despite some interruptions in the historical series.
Where residential assistance exceeds the hospital
A structural trend is the strengthening of long -term residential offer, in particular in the structures of nursing assistance. In 2023 26 EU countries had a total of about 3.6 million beds in these structures.
The highest numbers are observed in the Netherlands (1,400 beds per 100,000 inhabitants), Sweden (1,315) and Belgium (1,250). On the other hand, Greece (20) and Bulgaria (26) close the ranking. In most countries, residential beds however exceed 500 per 100,000 inhabitants.
Here too an expansion trend is observed between 2013 and 2023, with important increases in Croatia and Malta, but falling in Latvia, Denmark, Bulgaria and Greece.
Beds in Italy
Italy, with 179,372 Hospital beds total and 304.1 read per 100,000 inhabitantsis placed well from under from the average of the European Union (510.8).
The internal distribution highlights a underlying unbalanced to the beds for healing care (147,481 beds, equal to 250 per 100,000 inhabitants), while the other categories are undersized: 24.941 beds for rehabilitation (42.3 per 100,000 inhabitants), 6.950 For long -term care (11.8), and only 4.524 beds psychiatric (7.7), a dormant duty lower than the EU average of 71.1.
The painting reflects a health that is still strongly centered onhospital and on theacute interventionat the expense of a weak territorial and residential network, inadequate to respond to the aging of the population and the growing demand for long -term and psychiatric assistance.
The progressive reduction of beds, which has been taking place for decades, has left Italy with one of the lowest hospital equipment among western countries.
