What is Bed-Blocking?

During the winter months our hospitals are under extra pressure due to a surge in admissions. Every spare bed is critical, but the situation is made worse by bed blocking.

What is Bed Blocking?

During the winter months our hospitals are under extra pressure due to a surge in admissions. Every spare bed is critical, but the situation is made worse by bed blocking. This is where patients who are fit to go home have to remain in hospital, due to a lack of community care provision.

Across the UK, thousands of patients are stuck in beds when they don’t need to be. This issue affects the elderly in particular who are more likely to require a higher level of support when returning home. In some areas, the problem is so severe that almost a quarter of hospital beds are occupied by patients who no longer require hospital care.

And it’s well documented that people who are vulnerable recover much quicker at home, in a familiar environment.

In England, data from October 2023 shows that 1 in 7* hospital beds were occupied by someone who was eligible for discharge during the winter of 2022/23. The NHS no longer publishes Delayed Transfer of Care data for England, however we can see that for The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, the bed occupancy rate was at 81% for the winter of 2022/2023, and is 88% for the whole of England. Statistics » Bed Availability and Occupancy Data – Overnight (england.nhs.uk)

This occupancy data as this shows the pressure that hospitals are currently under and the importance of ensuring those patients who are fit to return home are able to do so.