COVID-19 headline7 day occupied beds

Last updated on Thursday, 13 June 2024 at 08:42am

Summary

• Topic: COVID-19
• Category: headline
• API name: COVID-19_headline_7DayOccupiedBeds

Rationale

Understanding rates and patterns of hospital admissions can help to inform planning around hospital pressures including beds and staffing.

Definition

This metric shows the average number of beds occupied by confirmed COVID-19 patients over the latest 7 days.

Methodology

This data includes people admitted to hospital who tested positive for COVID-19 in the 14 days before their admission and during their stay. Hospital inpatients who are diagnosed with COVID-19 after admission are reported as being admitted on the day before their diagnosis. Admissions figures include people admitted to NHS acute hospitals and mental health and learning disability (MHLD) trusts. This metric is calculated as the total of the daily number of beds occupied in the 7 days up to and including the most recent date, divided by 7.

Updates are published by NHS England on the second Thursday of each month, and contain data up to the end of the previous month.