A report from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control which looked at infections and antibiotic use in European hospitals in 2011-12 also reported on hospital indicators like the number of single beds in each hospital.

These other indicators are important because they are measures that help to keep the rate of hospital acquired infections low, which helps to counter resistance – because the fewer infections patients acquire, the fewer antibiotics are used, and the less resistance can develop.

Single rooms are important because they can be used to isolate patients who have infections, preventing the infection from spreading.

The report looked at the percentage of hospital beds which were in a single room, and found that the European average was 15.29 per cent. The worst offender was Hungary, with only 1.71 per cent of hospital beds in a single room.