Bed occupancy rates “are only one part of a more complex picture” Powys Teaching Health Board has said, after figures showed that county hospital beds were 91 per cent full on average across 2025, despite the emerging threats that beds in all hospitals apart from those in Brecon and Newtown could be cut.

Last week, the Cambrian News reported that figures - obtained from Powys Teaching Health Board through a Freedom of Information request by the Welsh Liberal Democrats – showed that Machynlleth hospital recorded average occupancy of 98 per cent in 2025, while Llanidloes Hospital was at 91 per cent.

Llanidloes councillor Glyn Preston said the figures “should set alarm bells ringing” as there is “precious little spare capacity in the system.”

“People across Powys have been telling us for weeks that removing community hospital beds is the wrong approach,” he said.

“These figures add yet more weight to their concerns.”

Powys Teaching Health Board said that while bed occupancy figures “provide an important snapshot of activity”, they “do not on their own tell us whether people are receiving care in the most appropriate setting.”

“The evidence tells us that too many people are spending too long in a community hospital bed because the support required to help them return home is not always available,” the health board said.

“In many of our hospitals half of the patients are waiting for support to enable them to return home, and a community hospital bed is not the best place for their care.

“Other patients in community hospital beds would not need hospital admission if specialist community healthcare services were available in the home.

“The evidence is also clear that one of the biggest improvements we can make for patients is to break the harmful cycle of deconditioning: long stays in hospital contribute to functional decline, loss of independence and incontinence, and they increase the likelihood of readmission.

“For many people, particularly older adults, home is the best place to recover, maintain independence and avoid the harms associated with prolonged hospital stays.

“We recognise how frustrating it can be when someone is waiting to return from District General Hospital to a Powys community hospital bed.

“While these cases represent a relatively small proportion of the total delays being experienced across the system, every delay matters to the individual concerned.

“The experience and outcomes for patients could be much better if we were able to prevent the need for hospital admission in the first place.”

The health board said its Better Together project – set to go before a full health board meeting on 16 September – will create “a system where we have stronger community services, so that more people are cared for at home.”

“We want to judge our success by how many people we help to stay well enough to avoid needing a hospital bed,” the health board said.

“We want inpatient services in Powys to offer better health care, so that fewer people need to go to a District General Hospital.”