CHART 14
Number of physicians per 100,000 inhabitants and number and % of physicians per
100,000 inhabitants working in hospitals: Year 2016
Physicians per 100,000
Number of physicians per 100,000 working in hospitals
% of physicians per 100,000 working in hospitals
600
90%
83%
500
75%
74%
66%
64%
400
68%
62%
60%
55%
55%
58%
53%
57%
60%
57%
46%
300
45%
45%
39%
200
24%
0%
0
15%
ni
Po
rt
100
30%
CHART 15
Number of practising nurses per 100,000 inhabitants: Years 2006–2016
2006
2016
Variation: Years 2006 - 2016
1200
80%
67%
1000
65%
800
50%
600
35%
21%
17%
14%
10%
4%
5%
1%
-10%
20%
-5%
-6%
0
1%
-3%
3%
2%
7%
200
17%
16%
400
24%
gives work to more than half of active physicians.
In 2016, the share of practising nurses per
100,000 registered the lowest values in Greece
(325), Latvia (464), Poland (516), Spain (551) and
Italy (557) (Chart 15). The highest values belong to
Germany (1285), Finland (1426), Denmark (1690)
and Switzerland (1702). In the same year, the
lowest share of practising physicians was
registered in Poland (242), the United Kingdom
(278), Luxembourg (288), Ireland (294) and
Slovenia (301), whereas the highest values were
seen in Germany (419), Switzerland (425), Sweden
(427), Lithuania (447) and Austria (513) (Chart 14).
Between 2006 and 2016, the number of both
practising nurses and physicians increased by 15%
in EU, according to information available.
These figures provide evidence of the policies
implemented, or at least the trends for the
management of healthcare professionals,
12
HHE 2019 | hospitalhealthcare.com
especially concerning the allocation of resources
and responsibilities between physicians and
nurses. In the EU, the average rate of nurses per
physicians is about 2.4 points. In 2016, the
highest values are in Denmark (4.6), Finland (4.4),
Luxembourg (4.1), Switzerland (4.0) and Belgium
(3.6). In these countries, there is a high shift of
competencies from physicians to nurses.
Conversely, in countries where the values are
lowest – such as Lithuania (1.7), Austria (1.6),
Latvia (1.4), Spain (1.4) and Italy (1.4) – physicians
continue to perform most of the clinical activities.
In 2016, according to last data available,
physicians per 100,000 inhabitants working in
hospitals (full or part time) were approximately
50%–60% of the total, with the highest rates
registered in Lithuania (66%), Estonia (68%),
Switzerland (74%) and France (83%). By contrast, the
lowest values were seen in Belgium (24%), the