In July to September 2010, the average number of general and acute beds open overnight at Torbay and South Devon

The occupancy rate for these beds has grown from 64.6% in July to September 2010, to 87.7% in 2016, an increase of 36%, one of the highest in England.

At Northern Devon, the number of beds has also dropped by 21%, from 370 to 294, with occupancy rates rising from 85.5% to 86.4% over the same period.

Across England, for general and acute beds open overnight, the occupancy rate between July and September was 89.1%, up from 87% over the same period in 2015.

The average daily number of beds open overnight was 129,458 in July to September 2016 compared with 130,774 in April to June. The average occupancy rate for all beds open overnight was 87.5%.

Health experts advise that occupancy levels should ideally be under 85%. Anything over this level is regarded as riskier for patients as this leads to bed shortages, periodic bed crises, and a rise in healthcare-acquired infections such as MRSA.

Commenting on the numbers, Mr Ian Eardley, a consultant urological surgeon and Vice President of the Royal College of Surgeons, said:

“The NHS has been able to reduce bed numbers as medical advances mean more modern surgery can take place without an overnight stay. However, these figures suggest bed reductions have now gone too far in the absence of sufficient social care or community care alternatives.

“We are now seeing increasing numbers of frail older patients in hospital because they have nowhere else to go. The lack of additional money in the Autumn Statement for social care and the NHS is only going to make this even harder.

“Today’s figures will come as no surprise to frontline staff who struggle every day to provide for their patients because of increasing demands and a shortage of hospital beds. I and too many of my colleagues all around the country are regularly having to cancel patients’ operations due to a lack of beds and delays in transferring patients back into the community.

“A number of sustainability and transformation plans are proposing further hospital bed reductions. Today’s figures suggest NHS leaders need to think carefully about whether this is a good idea without first putting in place better care in the community.”

The Royal College of Surgeons warned the figures almost certainly underestimate hospital bed shortages in the NHS. The Nuffield Trust think tank warned last month that NHS England’s bed occupancy statistics do not show the true scale of the problem, stating that “with a growing number of patients coming and going during the day, counting bed occupancy at midnight means that crunch times are often invisible”.