Professor John Robertson OBA

From Acute hospital activity and NHS beds information (quarterly) Quarter ending 30 June 2025, published yesterday:

There were on average 13,681 available staffed beds per day for all acute specialties in the quarter ending 30 June 2025 – a 0.3% decrease compared to the same quarter in the previous year. An available staffed bed is a bed which is resourced for inpatient or day case care. Of these, 9,720 (71%) were for medical specialties and 3,962 (29%) were for surgical specialties. For all acute specialties in the quarter ending 30 June 2025, the percentage occupancy was 87.6%, a 0.9 percentage point decrease compared to the same quarter in the previous year. The percentage occupancy is the percentage of available staffed beds that were occupied on average by inpatients during the period.

^{https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/acute-hospital-activity-and-nhs-beds-information-quarterly/acute-hospital-activity-and-nhs-beds-information-quarterly-quarter-ending-30-june-2025/data-summary/}

The situation in NHS England remains worse, at least in part explaining the Covid excess death rate there, twice that in Scotland. Occupancy is at 93%, very tight as winter flu outbreaks loom.

There are 100 615 beds available against the 130 000 required to match the level in Scotland.

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/mi-nhse-uec-bed-availability–occupancy/for-september-2025

NHS Scotland has thus around 30% more bed per head, to enable coping with winter peaks.