Estimating bed requirements for an intermediate care facility

Concern has been expressed in the United Kingdom regarding the proportion of beds intended for acute care that are occupied by patients who do not require acute care. One solution to this problem that is being investigated by some hospitals is the establishment of an intermediate care facility devoted to non-acute care. A key question faced by hospital planners is how many beds such an intermediate care facility should have. We report on a study consisting of a bed use survey and a stochastic analysis exercise that was conducted at the Whittington Hospital NHS Trust in London in order to address this question. Rather than focus on whether the patients in acute beds required acute care throughout their stay in hospital, the study concentrated on identifying periods in patients' stays when they would have been transferred to an intermediate care facility if one had been available.