Do we need more hospital beds?

Do we need more hospital beds?

How many hospital beds will we need in future — and what assumptions sit behind the answer?

In this Midlands Analyst Network Huddle, Lucy Morgan, Head of Analytics and Modelling at the Strategy Unit, will introduce the interactive app Do we need more hospital beds?

The app illustrates the relationship between four closely connected factors:

• hospital admissions
• average length of stay
• bed occupancy
• the number of beds required

Over recent decades, reductions in length of stay have allowed hospital bed numbers to fall despite rising admissions. However, average length of stay has begun to plateau, suggesting there may be limits to how much further this can offset future demand.

If admissions continue to grow, systems may need either to increase bed capacity or reduce future admissions in order to maintain performance. The app helps users explore these relationships, build intuition and test the assumptions behind different scenarios.

During the session, Lucy will demonstrate how the app can be used to:

• explore changes in admissions, available beds, average length of stay and occupancy between 1994 and 2025
• examine how changes in admissions could affect future bed requirements
• explore how many admissions could be supported by different levels of future bed growth
• support more informed conversations about demand, capacity and hospital planning

Who is this Huddle for?

This session will be relevant to:

• analysts and modellers
• commissioners and hospital planners
• operational and strategic decision-makers
• anyone interested in hospital demand, capacity or the methods used to explore them

No specialist modelling knowledge is required.

How to join

📅 Thursday 6 August

🕚 11:00–12:00

📍 Join via your usual Teams link or Eventbrite

N.B. Join this Huddle via the Eventbrite link from this invitation or the normal MS Teams Link

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