Some countries, such as Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway rely on such personnel to a great extent, while in Hungary their role appears to be limited, as reflected in their comparatively low numbers at 2.5 per thousand population in 2008. Consistent with the general trend of declining numbers of hospital beds, the number of hospital beds per thousand population in Hungary came down to around seven in 2009 from nearly nine in 1996, owing to cost-containment policies targeting excess capacity in the hospital sector and the advent of new medical technologies allowing greater reliance on day care rather than long hospitalisation. Nevertheless, the number of hospital beds remained above the OECD average of five per thousand in 2009 (OECD, 2011, Figure 4.5). The average lengths of stay in acute and inpatient care were among the lowest in the OECD in 2009.