This is one of the symbols of the hospital crisis: nearly 4,900 full hospitalization beds (with overnight stays in the establishment) were eliminated in 2023, confirming a continuous decline in supply, with 43,500 beds lost since the end of 2013, according to a study by Drees published on October 31.
As of December 31, 2023, the 2,962 public, private and private non-profit hospitals had exactly 369,423 full-time hospitalization beds, or 4,867 fewer beds than in 2022 (-1.3%), according to the latest report from the statistical directorate of social ministries (Drees).
At the same time, 3,489 partial hospitalization places – without overnight stays – were created (+4.1%), for a total of 88,504 places. Unlike a bed, a day "place" can generally accommodate several patients per day. The decline in the number of beds confirms according to the Drees " a trend observed for several years", reflecting on the one hand the will of the public authorities to " reorganize "care towards more" outpatient", but also staff shortages, which do not " do not allow to maintain » all beds open.
Since the end of 2013, healthcare establishments have lost 43,500 full-time hospital beds, representing a decrease in supply of 10.5% in ten years. Some 20,900 partial-time hospital places have been created at the same time (+31%). The decline in full-time hospital capacity is " faster " over the last four years than before the health crisis: it decreased by around 0.9% per year on average over the period 2013-2019.
Constant erosion
The promise of the former Minister of Health Aurelien Rousseau in the fall of 2023 to " reopen several thousand beds by the end of the year", has therefore not been held. If the beds close, " It is not for budgetary reasons", but by " lack of attractiveness "care professions," he assured at the time.
The decrease is however " less marked " in 2023 than in 2022, a year in which establishments lost more than 6,700 full-time hospitalization beds. The Drees also notes, in 2023, a marked decline in psychiatric beds (-2.4%), mainly in the public sector. Home hospitalization care capacities, however, continue to increase (+4.1%) to reach 24,100 patients treated simultaneously in the territory.
Widely denounced by health professionals, the collapse in the number of beds has been almost constant since the beginning of the 2000s, according to data available on the IRDES website (Institute for Research and Documentation in Health Economics). The number of hospital sites also continues to decrease. under the effect of reorganizations and restructurings » (-160 public or private establishments between 2013 and 2023, or -5.1%), with a greater drop in the public than the private sector.
Budget debate
Caregivers regularly criticize these bed closures, which saturate services, put teams under pressure and increase tensions in emergency services, causing more and more professionals to flee the hospital. These figures are published in the middle of the parliamentary debate on the 2025 social security budget, the deficit of which the government wants to contain at 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% needed, according to the French Hospital Federation (FHF, public sector). Four unions in the health sector (CGT, FO, Sud and Unsa) have for their part filed a strike notice running from November 4 to December 21 to protest against this budget.
The left, for its part, intends to have the National Assembly vote on a PS bill – already validated by the Senate – by December to set a minimum number of caregivers per patient in hospital.
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