Nursing Care Deserts UK 2026 — Lowest Nursing-Bed Capacity per Older Resident

Age-adjusted, beds-led analysis of nursing-home supply across English local authorities. Primary metric: active registered nursing-home beds per 100 residents aged 75+ (OHID Fingertips indicator 92493).

National distribution (nursing beds per 100 aged 75+)

Median

4.4

Mean (sd)

4.53 (1.55)

Severe-undersupply (p10)

2.6

Well-supplied (p75)

5.4

Based on 151 local authorities with adequate nursing bed coverage. 1 local authorities have zero active nursing beds in the CQC directory — treated as severe undersupply where 75+ population > 0.

30 most under-supplied local authorities (nursing beds)

#	Local authority	Region	Pop. 75+	Nursing beds	/100 age 75+	Band
1	Haringey	London	12,200	122	1.0	Severe
2	Southwark	London	13,300	269	2.0	Severe
3	Tower Hamlets	London	8,100	165	2.0	Severe
4	North Lincolnshire	Yorkshire & The Humber	19,269	391	2.0	Severe
5	Hackney	London	10,500	224	2.1	Severe
6	Tameside	North West	19,900	411	2.1	Severe
7	East Riding of Yorkshire	Yorkshire & The Humber	45,000	930	2.1	Severe
8	Leicestershire	East Midlands	69,400	1,457	2.1	Severe
9	Waltham Forest	London	13,500	302	2.2	Severe
10	Barnsley	Yorkshire & The Humber	23,200	543	2.3	Severe
11	Cornwall	South West	76,800	1,864	2.4	Severe
12	Kingston upon Hull	Yorkshire & The Humber	20,800	508	2.4	Severe
13	Cumberland	North West	32,594	817	2.5	Severe
14	Southend-on-Sea	East of England	18,502	470	2.5	Severe
15	North East Lincolnshire	Yorkshire & The Humber	17,011	442	2.6	Severe
16	Thurrock	East of England	11,652	305	2.6	Severe
17	Oldham	North West	19,110	504	2.6	Severe
18	Norfolk	East of England	109,800	2,810	2.6	Severe
19	Lewisham	London	14,600	389	2.7	Undersupply
20	Halton	North West	11,145	315	2.8	Undersupply
21	Dudley	West Midlands	32,300	933	2.9	Undersupply
22	Dorset	South West	62,758	1,842	2.9	Undersupply
23	Torbay	South West	20,215	592	2.9	Undersupply
24	Devon	South West	99,600	2,911	2.9	Undersupply
25	Camden	London	11,500	346	3.0	Undersupply
26	Isle of Wight	South East	21,600	649	3.0	Undersupply
27	Bracknell Forest	South East	9,825	294	3.0	Undersupply
28	Rochdale	North West	17,705	538	3.0	Undersupply
29	Portsmouth	South East	13,700	427	3.1	Undersupply
30	Leicester	East Midlands	20,200	646	3.2	Undersupply

Best-supplied areas (nursing beds)

#	Local authority	Nursing beds	/100 age 75+
1	Kingston upon Thames	1,249	10.7
2	Windsor and Maidenhead	1,524	9.7
3	Surrey	9,182	8.0
4	Oxfordshire	4,920	8.0
5	Newcastle upon Tyne	1,641	7.5
6	Croydon	1,891	7.4
7	Cheshire East	3,298	7.4
8	Barnet	1,884	7.2
9	Bristol	1,944	7.2
10	Warrington	1,377	7.2

Cost vs nursing supply

Pearson r = 0.006 between nursing beds per 100 aged 75+ and weekly nursing council rate, across 151 LAs with both published.

Bottom supply quartile averages £1,362/week vs £1,306/week in the top supply quartile. Treat descriptively — cost is confounded by London and South East staffing markets.

Legacy secondary — nursing homes per 10,000 total population

Retained for continuity. Not the primary measure.

Local authority	Nursing homes	/10k total (legacy)	Nursing beds /100 age 75+ (primary)
Haringey	2	0.1	1.0
Southwark	3	0.1	2.0
Tower Hamlets	2	0.1	2.0
Waltham Forest	4	0.1	2.2
Camden	5	0.2	3.0
Hackney	4	0.2	2.1
Newham	6	0.2	4.2
Brent	9	0.3	3.6
Greenwich	10	0.3	4.9
Lambeth	8	0.3	4.8

Frequently asked questions

What is a nursing care desert?

A local authority in the bottom quartile of nursing-home bed capacity per 100 residents aged 75+. The bottom decile is labelled severe undersupply. Nursing homes provide 24-hour registered-nurse care for residents with complex clinical needs — areas without adequate nursing provision force families into longer journeys or delayed hospital discharges.

Which area has the lowest nursing-bed capacity?

Haringey in London has the lowest nursing-bed capacity on the primary metric, with 1.0 nursing beds per 100 residents aged 75+. That translates to 122 active nursing beds for 12,200 residents aged 75+.

Why is nursing-home availability worse than general care-home availability?

Nursing homes are more expensive to operate than residential-only homes because they require 24/7 registered nurses, specialist equipment, and clinical governance. Council fee rates often do not cover the true cost of nursing care, making it uneconomical for providers to offer nursing beds. Many nursing homes have converted to residential-only to reduce costs, further reducing supply. The NHS-funded Nursing Care contribution (£219.71/week in 2025-26) does not fully bridge the gap.

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Data sources: CQC Care Directory (OGL v3.0) for active nursing-home locations and bed counts; ONS 2022 mid-year estimates for 75+ denominators; NHS England ASC-FR for nursing unit costs; OHID Fingertips 92493 as validation benchmark. See the full methodology.