Increase in inpatient treatments

More inpatient treatments and extra staff, but decreasing number of hospital beds

09/28/2013

The number of hospital-treated patients and the number of staff in German hospitals rose slightly in the past year, while the number of hospitals decreased overall, according to the statistics of the Federal Statistics Office 2012. The number of hospital beds was also slightly lower, with a significant reduction in the public hospital sector being offset by an increase in privately owned hospital beds. Still is „Almost every second bed (47.9 percent) in a hospital of a public institution“, so the message of the Federal Statistical Office.

In 2012, a total of 18.6 million inpatients were hospitalized, which represents an increase of 1.5 percent over the previous year, reports the Federal Statistical Office. The stay in the hospital took an average of 7.6 days (7.7 days in 2011). For inpatient care, there were 2,017 hospitals (2,045 in 2011) with more than 501,000 beds (540 fewer than in 2011). „With increasing treatment and staff numbers, the number of available beds remains almost constant“, so the conclusion in the press release of the Federal Statistical Office. In the early 1990s, the number of beds was still much higher - in 1991 there were almost 666,000 hospital beds.

Moderate bed occupancy in the clinics
Although the number of in-patient treatments has increased and the number of hospital beds has decreased minimally, the capacity utilization limit for beds has not yet been reached, according to the Federal Statistical Office. Bed occupancy rates increased only slightly - from 77.3 percent in 2011 to 77.4 percent in 2012. Public hospitals achieved the highest occupancy rate of 78.9 percent, while in private hospitals, occupancy was at 76 percent , 1 percent and in the non-profit hospitals was only 75.9 percent, reports the Federal Statistical Office.

Increase in employees in the hospital sector
For hospital staff, hospital statistics show an increase in full-time medical staff by 2.7 percent in 2012 to almost 143,000 in total and by 3.3 percent to 709,000 full-time equivalents in the non-medical service. Of the employees in the non-medical service, alone 313,000 full-time employees work in the nursing service, according to the statement of the Federal Statistical Office.

Two million people treated in preventive and rehabilitation facilities
In addition, just under two million patients in 2012 took inpatient treatment in a preventive or rehabilitation facility. This was 2.1 percent more than in the previous year. „In 1,215 prevention or rehabilitation facilities, around 169,000 beds were available“, In contrast to the hospitals here, the private providers are the largest providers, reports the Federal Statistical Office. Almost two thirds of all beds (65.9 percent) were in private prevention or rehabilitation facilities. At 81 percent, occupancy rates in 2012 were 2.3 percentage points higher than in the previous year (78.7 percent). Here, too, the public facilities achieved the highest occupancy rate with 90.8 percent. According to the Federal Statistical Office, a total of 8,000 full-time medical staff and 84,000 full-time non-medical staff were available for the care of patients in the prevention and rehabilitation facilities. (Fp)