A review of bed utilisation in the west of Ireland.

Link to article at PubMed

Related Articles

A review of bed utilisation in the west of Ireland.

Ir Med J. 2015 May;108(5):142-4

Authors: Evans DS, Corcoran R, Kiernan R, Glacken M

Abstract
To ensure efficient use of Irish acute hospitals, the study aimed to assess the appropriateness of admission and days of care. The Appropriateness Evaluation Protocol (AEP) was applied to a stratified random sample of 286 medical and surgical, elective and non-elective patients from four acute hospitals in the west of Ireland. A total of 23 patients (8%) were inappropriately admitted. Of these 15 (65%) could have been avoided. Of the 34 elective/booked admissions, seven (21%) were inappropriate in terms of location of surgery criteria. Over three quarters of elective patients (77%) were admitted one or more days prior to surgery which was not justified for 13 (57%) of these patients. Over a quarter of days of care (n = 73, 26%) were inappropriate. Evidence of discharge planning was found for 48% of patients. The study provides a benchmark to monitor progress. Existing policies and programmes should be implemented and monitored.

PMID: 26062240 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *