The table presents data on medical care provision, specifically the number of physicians, hospital beds per 1000 people and the average lenght of hospital stay in three European countries: Austria, France and Sweden, for the years 1980, 1990 and 2000.
Overall, the availability of hospital beds increased across the three nations, with Austria and France recording the most pronounced growth. In contrast, the trends for physicians number and hospital stay duration were more divergent. While France saw a consistent decrease in both these metrics, Austria and Sweden displayed more complex patterns, with Austria’s physicians number rising while its duration of hospital stay fluctuated, and both metrics oscillated in Sweden.
Interms of medical personnel, Austria showed a gradual rise from 0.8 to 1.0 per 1000 people over the 20-year period. Sweden, although experiencing a slump in 1990, recovered to 3.8 in 2000, exceeding the intial value of 3.6 in 1980. France on the other hand, had a decline in physcians from 2.4 in 1980 to 2.2 in 1990, and dropped by half in 2000 with 1.3 per 1000 people.
Regarding the hospital stay duration, the data for France recorded a steady decrease from 9 days from 1980 to 5 days in 2000. Austria experienced a sharp drop from 18 to 6 days in 1990 before having a slight growth to 8 days in 2000. Similarly, Sweden’s figure showed a fluctuation from 23 days to 18 days in 1990, and increased to 21 in the final year.
The availability of hospital beds saw a progressive rise in all three nations. Austria had a leap in the provision of beds from 1980 to 1990, followed by a slower growth to 3.7 per 1000 people in 2000. These numbers for France increased steadily from 0.2 in the first year to 1.6 in 2000. Sweden experienced a stable number of available hospital beds throughout the first 2 years, and rose to 6.9 in the last year.