Bed-Blockers

Been in A&E a lot with me dad last couple of weeks and it's been very very quiet. He was also discharged earlier than they would normally have done on the two occasions he was kept in so they are doing everything they can to keep it as empty as possible
 


Been reliably informed that a well known hospital around these parts has had almost 100 beds freed up by people who now longer feel that they need to be hospitalised.
What on earth could have prompted them, after years of taking up vital hospital space, time and resources, these people have suddenly "got better". Its a miracle, i tell you.

My Dad was a bed blocker. He was ready to come home but needed many pieces of equipment delivered to their house first. You'd think one person could assess him and make a list of all he needed and get it all sent out, but nope! Different people ordered different things each with different chains of admin processes. It all happened at snails pace and it was a nightmare chasing various people up to see if they'd done their bit. Mam had issues like a bed frame arrived but no mattress because someone else should have ordered that but it got missed somehow.

Hopefully with the crisis and need for beds, people have got their fingers out and managed to sort things for people who are ready to go home.
 
Been reliably informed that a well known hospital around these parts has had almost 100 beds freed up by people who now longer feel that they need to be hospitalised.
What on earth could have prompted them, after years of taking up vital hospital space, time and resources, these people have suddenly "got better". Its a miracle, i tell you.

Most of them need to go into residential or nursing care, and they are just hanging around waiting for their choice of home to have a vacancy

Very few of them are selfish or swinging the lead, the problem is that the money that residential and care home get from Councils/DH as fallen in real terms for a decade

Which just means that those costs are passed onto the NHS as bedblockers.

A lot of these people really need to go into a home, and I hope that they will get the care that they need. I hope that none of them die alone or suffer

Don't blame the patient. Blame the system
 
Most of them need to go into residential or nursing care, and they are just hanging around waiting for their choice of home to have a vacancy

Very few of them are selfish or swinging the lead, the problem is that the money that residential and care home get from Councils/DH as fallen in real terms for a decade

Which just means that those costs are passed onto the NHS as bedblockers.

A lot of these people really need to go into a home, and I hope that they will get the care that they need. I hope that none of them die alone or suffer

Don't blame the patient. Blame the system
100%.
I read somewhere the other day that nurses were on about how this crisis has seen A&E's be almost empty for the first time in years, and if people behaved in this way under normal circumstances (as in not turn to hospitals for every little thing) then the NHS would be in a lot better state today than in currently is. Definitely some truth in it, lots tbh
Conversely though it’s been reported today that the CMO has been informed by Dr’s that a lot of people (including children) are being brought to A&E substantially iller than they normally would. People are so scared of getting Covid in hospital that they’re avoiding it even when very unwell, and some are seriously ill by the time they arrive (potentially making it harder to treat).

So it’s not completely the case that people are just avoiding A&E with minor injuries. Some people who really *should* be at A&E aren’t attending.
 
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A lot of bed blockers aren’t there by choice FWIW.
.. That is true, though some private healthcare packages pays people 'expenses' if they stay in an NHS hospital rather than a private one .. Some may see stopping in as long as possible as an incentive ..
 

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