NHS winter tracker: the 20 busiest hospitals in England right now

Hospitals in England remained extraordinarily busy last week with 96% of NHS trusts operating above a ‘safe’ level of occupancy, according to analysis of weekly winter pressure figures from NHS England.

Only five trusts – all of them specialist hospitals without a general purpose, 24-hour A&E department – managed to keep their adult general and acute wards at an occupancy rate of 85% or lower, which is the threshold widely considered to be a safe limit of busyness.

On average, hospitals were 95.1% full in the week ending 22 January, which was an improvement on the previous week when occupancy rates were at 95.7%. The week before that, wards were 96% full.

The proportion of hospitals reaching above 85% though was a deterioration on the previous week, when 93% of trusts (125 out of 134) were above the threshold. And wards were on average much busier than the same week last year.

Over the course of the week, 12 trusts ran out of beds completely, reaching 100% capacity on at least one occasion. The figures are based on snapshots taken at 8am each day during winter.

NationalWorld has analysed the data to find which hospital trusts were the most overwhelmed with patients last week – including how many days they ran out of beds over the seven days.

13. Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust had an occupancy rate of 98.9%, with an average of 471 of its 476 beds taken across the week. It ran out of beds completely once.

Edgar Jiménez / Flickr Photo: Edgar Jiménez / Flickr

14. Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust had an occupancy rate of 98.9%, with an average of 927 of its 937 beds taken across the week.

Stephen McKay / Royal Free Hospital, Hampstead / CC BY-SA 2.0 Photo: Stephen McKay / Royal Free Hospital, Hampstead / CC BY-SA 2.0

15. University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust had an occupancy rate of 98.8%, with an average of 1001 of its 1013 beds taken across the week.

G-13114 / Wikimedia Commons Photo: G-13114 / Wikimedia Commons

16. Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust had an occupancy rate of 98.5%, with an average of 514 of its 522 beds taken across the week.

Elliott Brown / Flickr Photo: Elliott Brown / Flickr

NHS winter tracker: where are the busiest hospitals in England - and which ones have run out of beds?

Hospitals in England remain extraordinarily busy with 96% of NHS trusts operating above a “safe” level of occupancy

13. Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust had an occupancy rate of 98.9%, with an average of 471 of its 476 beds taken across the week. It ran out of beds completely once.

14. Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust had an occupancy rate of 98.9%, with an average of 927 of its 937 beds taken across the week.

15. University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust had an occupancy rate of 98.8%, with an average of 1001 of its 1013 beds taken across the week.

16. Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust had an occupancy rate of 98.5%, with an average of 514 of its 522 beds taken across the week.

NHS winter tracker: where are the busiest hospitals in England - and which ones have run out of beds?

Hospitals in England remain extraordinarily busy with 96% of NHS trusts operating above a “safe” level of occupancy

13. Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust had an occupancy rate of 98.9%, with an average of 471 of its 476 beds taken across the week. It ran out of beds completely once.

14. Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust had an occupancy rate of 98.9%, with an average of 927 of its 937 beds taken across the week.

15. University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust had an occupancy rate of 98.8%, with an average of 1001 of its 1013 beds taken across the week.

16. Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust had an occupancy rate of 98.5%, with an average of 514 of its 522 beds taken across the week.

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