Swedish hospital bed crisis could last until 2033 - Euractiv

A bed shortage is forcing Swedish doctors to discharge patients prematurely every week – funding and management issues are to blame.

Underwritten Produced with financial support from an organization or individual, yet not approved by the underwriter before or after publication.

“The shortage of beds poses a serious threat to patient safety."

Produced with financial support from an organization or individual, yet not approved by the underwriter before or after publication.

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The number of hospital beds in Sweden continues to decline. An acceptable ratio of beds matching patients’ needs is not expected to be achieved until 2033, according to a new report seen by Euractiv. The doctors' union says the situation poses a threat to patient safety.

On average, 1,864 somatic inpatient care beds were in short supply daily across the country in 2024, equating to a 12 per cent shortage of the total number, according to a recent report from the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare.

The report also states that, on average, an additional 44 intensive care beds were lacking daily, forcing hospitals to move seriously ill patients to other intensive care units.

“Although hospitals have worked to reduce the need for hospitalisation, for example by using mobile teams, reducing hospital-acquired complications or providing better and more timely primary care, the efforts made by the regions have not been enough to meet the needs,” Caroline Kevin, a Programme Officer at the board, told Euractiv.

Such measures freed up 364 beds. However, the total number of beds decreased by 40 between 2023 and 2024. According to the board, many more beds need to be opened to ameliorate the crisis.

On the current progression rate, the balance between care capacity and patients’ needs will not be reached until 2033, the report estimates. This is seven years later than the board told the public last year.

Sofia Rydgren Stale, the president of the Swedish Medical Association, is not surprised by the new figures.

“We also see, in our own surveys, that the trend is going in the wrong direction”, she told Euractiv.

When the Swedish Medical Association conducted a temperature survey in March 2025, 26 per cent of doctors stated that they were forced to discharge patients prematurely every week due to a lack of beds.

“The shortage of beds poses a serious threat to patient safety. Despite this, regions have been making cuts to healthcare capacity over the past year instead of investing in it,” she said.

At the same time, Rydgren Stale points out that there are significant differences between regions.

Only three of them – Kalmar, Gotland, and Jönköping – fulfilled the board’s individual guiding value, which was the number of beds immediately needed in correspondence with the number of patients waiting, for example, in emergency wards and queues.

However, many regions were not that fortunate.

Only seven out of the 21 Swedish regions succeeded in increasing the number of available beds; four of these regions opened more than 10 new beds. The remaining regions (14) had the same number or had reduced their number of beds. This is despite temporary government contributions specially designated to provide more beds.

Furthermore, over half of the regions reduced their number of intensive care beds between 2023 and 2024.

“When it comes to shortages of intensive care beds, two regions account for almost two-thirds of the shortfall. This is mainly because regions have been cutting back instead of prioritising training, recruitment and retention. More beds require more staff. That means regions need to invest in staff to succeed. However, this requires long-term government funding so that regions can hire as well,” Rydgren Stale said.

The region hardest hit by the hospital bed crisis nationally is Västra Götaland.

It is short by 508 hospital beds and lacks 14 intensive care beds for somatic patients, and it also has the second-highest number of overcrowding incidents in the country.

The situation follows the region’s closure of a small acute hospital in November 2023 and further significant financial cuts made in 2024, including the downsizing of the region’s flagship, Sahlgrenska University Hospital.

Peter Dahm, Head of the Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Department at this hospital, recognises the general lack of intensive care beds in the region relative to the size of our population.

“The current level, for example, means that we at Sahlgrenska have to transfer patients from the central ICU to the other ICUs almost every week. This is not ideal and creates ethical stress as well as work stress for our healthcare workers,” he told Euractiv.

The central ICU currently has 16 beds but needs an additional four. This would represent a 25 per cent increase. However, it is unclear when new beds will be provided by the region.

“However, we hope that these will be provided before our new central ICU is operational in 2033,” Peter Dahm said.

According to Caroline Kevin, the hospital bed crisis is not solely due to a lack of economic resources; organisational and management issues also play a part. But, all regions “are signalling that they are in need of additional funding”, she noted.

Sofia Rydgren Stale offers this explanation to the state of play:

“The central government sets targets and allocates resources, but the regions cut back. You could describe it as the state is accelerating, and the regions are putting on the brakes. To break this cycle, the central government needs to provide long-term funding, while the regions must invest in staff and improve working conditions,” she stated.

[Edited by Vasiliki Angouridi, Brian Maguire]

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