Abstract
Background: Effective bed use is crucial to an efficient NHS. Current targets suggest a decrease in mean occupancy as the most appropriate method of improving overall efficiency. The elderly and those suffering from complex medical problems are thought to account for a high proportion of overall bed occupancy.
Aim: To assess the effect of prolonged hospital stay (>100 days) on overall bed occupancy in a modern teaching hospital.
Design: Retrospective analysis.
Methods: Analysis of all admission episodes (n = 117 178) over a five-year period in a large teaching hospital in a single UK region, serving a population of approximately 200 000. A logistic regression multi-factorial model was used to assess the effect of demographic and diagnostic variables on duration of stay.
Results: A prolonged stay (>100 days) was seen in 648 admission episodes (0.6%). These accounted for 11% of the overall bed occupancy over the 5-year period. Excluding all prolonged admission episodes from our analysis made no difference to the overall median length of stay.
Discussion: Prolonged hospitalizations have a significant impact on bed occupancy. Targeting these very long (>100 days) hospital stays may better improve overall efficiency, compared to targeting mean or median length of stay.
Aim: To assess the effect of prolonged hospital stay (>100 days) on overall bed occupancy in a modern teaching hospital.
Design: Retrospective analysis.
Methods: Analysis of all admission episodes (n = 117 178) over a five-year period in a large teaching hospital in a single UK region, serving a population of approximately 200 000. A logistic regression multi-factorial model was used to assess the effect of demographic and diagnostic variables on duration of stay.
Results: A prolonged stay (>100 days) was seen in 648 admission episodes (0.6%). These accounted for 11% of the overall bed occupancy over the 5-year period. Excluding all prolonged admission episodes from our analysis made no difference to the overall median length of stay.
Discussion: Prolonged hospitalizations have a significant impact on bed occupancy. Targeting these very long (>100 days) hospital stays may better improve overall efficiency, compared to targeting mean or median length of stay.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 561-566 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | QJM : monthly journal of the Association of Physicians |
| Volume | 100 |
| Issue number | 9 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Sep 2007 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Medicine(all)