General hospital construction costs in the UK 2022-2024

London was the city in the United Kingdom with the highest costs for constructing a general hospital in 2024. Meanwhile, among cities included in this selection, Leeds was the cheapest one to build that kind of structure. The expenses of such a construction in London were over 500 British pounds higher than in Glasgow. The capital of the UK is the most expensive area for public building construction.

Hospital bed numbers still in decline

The number of hospital beds in the UK has been declining since 2000. Between 2000 and 2020, figures decreased from 240,144 to 162,723 number of beds. The reduction in hospital beds is, among other reasons, attributed to technical improvements in surgery rooms, patients with mental health problems being treated in different settings, and most importantly, cuts to NHS funding. However, the number of beds increased slightly again in 2021 and 2022.

Increased healthcare spend

Despite past funding cuts and declining availability of hospital beds, healthcare spending has significantly increased in the past twenty years. In 2022, expenditure reached a peak of nearly 282 billion British pounds, whereas in 2000, this figure amounted to 79 billion British pounds. The value of healthcare expenditure as a share of GDP also increased significantly in the past years.