Hospital bed numbers provide information on healthcare capacities, in other words on the maximum number of patients who can be treated by hospitals. Hospital beds are those which are regularly maintained and staffed and immediately available for the care of admitted patients. They cover beds accommodating patients who are formally admitted (or hospitalised) to an institution for treatment and/or care and who stay for a minimum of one night. These include: beds in all hospitals, including general hospitals, mental health and substance abuse hospitals, and other specialty hospitals, irrespective of whether the bed is occupied or not. The statistics presented exclude surgical tables, recovery trolleys, emergency stretchers, beds for same-day care, cots for healthy infants, beds in wards which were closed for any reason, provisional and temporary beds, or beds in nursing and residential care facilities.
A curative care bed or acute care bed is a hospital bed available for curative care; these form a subgroup of total hospital beds.