43,500 overnight hospitalization beds have been lost since the end of 2013. This is confirmed by a study published by Drees this Thursday, which points to a drop of almost 4,900 complete hospitalization beds in 2023 alone.
As of December 31, 2023, the 2,962 public, private and private non-profit hospitals had exactly 369,423 full hospitalization beds, or 4,867 beds less than in 2022 (-1.3%), according to the latest management report of the social ministries (. dresses).
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 day “spot” can typically accommodate several patients daily.
“Reorganization” and lack of personnel
The decrease in the number of beds confirms, according to the Drees, “a trend observed for several years”, which reflects, on the one hand, the will of public authorities to “reorganize” care towards more “outpatient” care, but also the shortage of staff, which does not “make it possible to keep” all the beds open.
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 has been “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.
Constant erosion
Therefore, the promise made by former Health Minister Aurélien Rousseau in autumn 2023 to “reopen several thousand beds before the end of the year” was not fulfilled. If the beds close, “it is not for budgetary reasons,” but rather because of the “lack of attractiveness” of the caring professions, he continued.
The reduction is, however, “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.
However, home hospital care capacities continue to increase (+4.1%) until reaching 24,100 patients treated simultaneously in the territory.
Widely reported by health agents, the collapse in the number of beds has been almost constant since the early 2000s, according to data available on the Irdes (Institute for Research and Documentation in Health Economics) website.
The number of hospital establishments also continues to decline “under the effect of reorganizations and restructuring” (-160 public or private establishments between 2013 and 2023, or -5.1%), with a greater drop in the public sector than in the private sector. .
Budget debate
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 flee the hospital.
These figures are published in the middle of a parliamentary debate on the social security budget for 2025, whose deficit wants to be limited 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 PS law proposal – already validated by the Senate – to establish a minimum number of caregivers per hospitalized patient.
Source: BFM TV
