Table: Hospital performance by region

The table compares hospital beds, waiting times and the number of patients treated in five regions of one country.

Overall, the Capital had the best provision and performance on every measure, whereas the South had the fewest beds and the longest waits. In general, regions with more beds had shorter waiting times.

The Capital had 4.2 beds per 1,000 people, the highest rate, and the shortest average wait, at 19 days. It also treated the most patients, at 880,000. The West came second on beds, with 3.6 per 1,000, and had the next shortest wait of 27 days, though it treated only 415,000 patients.

The North and East were in the middle. The North had 3.1 beds per 1,000 and a wait of 41 days, with 520,000 patients, while the East had 2.9 beds, a shorter wait of 35 days and the lowest number of patients, at 340,000.

The South was the weakest region. It had only 2.4 beds per 1,000 people and patients waited 58 days on average, more than three times as long as in the Capital, even though it treated 610,000 patients, the second-highest figure.