This is one of the symbols of the hospital crisis: in 2023, nearly 4,900 complete hospital beds (with overnight stays in the establishment) were eliminated, confirming a continuous decrease in supply, with 43,500 beds lost since the end of 2013, according to a study by the Directorate of Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics (Drees) published on Thursday, October 31.
As of December 31, 2023, the 2,962 public, private and private non-profit hospitals had exactly 369,423 full inpatient beds, or 4,867 fewer beds than in 2022 (- 1.3%), according to Drees. At the same time, 3,489 partial hospitalization places – without overnight stays – were created (+4.1%), reaching a total of 88,504 places. Unlike a bed, a ” place “ The daycare can usually accommodate several patients daily.
The decrease in the number of beds is confirmed according to Drees “a trend that has been observed for several years”reflecting on the one hand the will of the public powers of “reorganize” worry about more “ambulatory”and, on the other, the shortage of personnel, which “cannot be maintained” all beds open.
“Lack of attractiveness”
Since the end of 2013, health facilities have lost 43,500 complete hospital beds, which represents a reduction in supply of 10.5% in ten years. At the same time, some 20,900 partial hospitalization places were created (+ 31%).
The decrease in total hospitalization capacity is “faster” in the last four years than before the health crisis: it decreased by around 0.9% annually on average during the period 2013-2019.
The promise of former Health Minister Aurélien Rousseau in the fall of 2023 “reopen several thousand beds before the end of the year”so it was not celebrated. If the beds are closed, “It is not for budgetary reasons”but for “lack of attractiveness” caring professions, he then stated.
A decrease in psychiatric beds
The decrease, however, is “less marked” in 2023 than in 2022, the year in which establishments lost more than 6,700 complete hospital beds.
Drees also points out, in 2023, a marked decrease in psychiatric beds (−2.4%), mainly in the public sector. On the other hand, home hospital care capacities continue to increase (+4.1%) until reaching 24,100 patients treated simultaneously in the territory.
Widely reported by healthcare actors, the collapse in the number of beds has been almost constant since the early 2000s, according to data available on the website of the Institute for Research and Documentation in Health Economics. The number of hospital sites also continues to decline. “under the effect of reorganizations and restructuring” (− 160 public or private establishments between 2013 and 2023, that is, − 5.1%), with a greater drop in the public sector than in the private sector.
strike notice
Health workers periodically criticize these bed closures, which saturate services, put pressure on teams and increase tensions in emergency services, causing more and more professionals to leave the hospital.
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These figures are published in the midst of a parliamentary debate on the Social Security budget for 2025, whose government wants to contain the deficit to 16 billion euros compared to 18 billion in 2024. The increase in health spending dedicated to the hospital sector will be limited to +3.1%, far from the +6% necessary, according to the French Hospital Federation (FHF, public sector).
For their part, four unions in the health sector (CGT, FO, Sud and UNSA) presented a strike notice from November 4 to December 21 to protest against this budget. The left, for its part, wants the National Assembly to vote, before December, on a socialist bill – already validated by the Senate – to establish a minimum number of caregivers per hospitalized patient.
