Status: December 20, 2021 1:56 p.m.
The number of intensive care beds in Germany rose by around five percent in the Corona year 2020. However, the total number of hospital beds fell at the same time. Fewer patients were also treated.
Fewer treatments overall but more beds for the seriously ill: The number of intensive care beds in German hospitals rose by five percent in 2020. There were a total of 27,000 intensive care beds in hospitals last year, 1400 more than in the previous year, according to the Federal Statistical Office.
“The growth observed in the number of intensive care beds is due to the efforts of the hospitals to expand this important resource in the face of the pandemic,” said the CEO of the German Hospital Association, Gerald Gass. Unfortunately, however, it should be noted that this high level could not be maintained through 2021. Many hospital locations would have had to reduce their intensive care capacities again due to a lack of staff.
Lower bed occupancy
In contrast, the total number of hospital beds fell by an annual average of 7,400 or 1.5 percent to 486,700. The treatment days in hospitals were also down in the past year compared to 2019. With around 122.6 million it was around twelve percent or 16.7 million days less.
As a result, the average bed occupancy also fell by 8.4 percentage points to 68.8 percent. That is, the hospital beds were occupied two out of three days on average. The occupancy rate was highest in Berlin with 74.2 percent, and lowest in Rhineland-Palatinate with 63.1 percent.
The reason for this is the significant decline in treatment cases due to the corona pandemic. Many treatments and operations that were not absolutely necessary were canceled or postponed as a result.
According to statistics, there were almost 2.5 million fewer hospital treatments than in the previous year. That corresponds to a decrease of 13.1 percent. Also in the current year, predictable operations in the clinics have been and will be canceled due to the pandemic.
“Many interventions had to be postponed”
According to Gaß, the numbers show very clearly how much the hospitals should have restricted standard care in 2020. “Many interventions had to be postponed.” In many cases, however, clinics would have had to convert multi-bed rooms into single rooms to protect against infection.
“The facts make it clear that Covid-19 stresses the departments in the hospitals very differently,” said Eugen Brysch, board member of the German Foundation for Patient Protection. Not even 70 percent of the beds are occupied. Most clinics would now work with the concept of sliding operations. However, there is no uniform standard for this meaningless term. “This has consequences for cancer patients, neurological and cardiological patients.”