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Review

Addressing the Knowledge Deficit in Hospital Bed Planning and Defining an Optimum Region for the Number of Different Types of Hospital Beds in an Effective Health Care System

by
Rodney P. Jones
Healthcare Analysis & Forecasting, Wantage OX12 0NE, UK
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(24), 7171; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20247171
Submission received: 13 October 2023 / Revised: 1 December 2023 / Accepted: 4 December 2023 / Published: 12 December 2023
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Papers Collection: Health Care Sciences & Services)

Abstract

Based upon 30-years of research by the author, a new approach to hospital bed planning and international benchmarking is proposed. The number of hospital beds per 1000 people is commonly used to compare international bed numbers. This method is flawed because it does not consider population age structure or the effect of nearness-to-death on hospital utilization. Deaths are also serving as a proxy for wider bed demand arising from undetected outbreaks of 3000 species of human pathogens. To remedy this problem, a new approach to bed modeling has been developed that plots beds per 1000 deaths against deaths per 1000 population. Lines of equivalence can be drawn on the plot to delineate countries with a higher or lower bed supply. This method is extended to attempt to define the optimum region for bed supply in an effective health care system. England is used as an example of a health system descending into operational chaos due to too few beds and manpower. The former Soviet bloc countries represent a health system overly dependent on hospital beds. Several countries also show evidence of overutilization of hospital beds. The new method is used to define a potential range for bed supply and manpower where the most effective health systems currently reside. The method is applied to total curative beds, medical beds, psychiatric beds, critical care, geriatric care, etc., and can also be used to compare different types of healthcare staff, i.e., nurses, physicians, and surgeons. Issues surrounding the optimum hospital size and the optimum average occupancy will also be discussed. The role of poor policy in the English NHS is used to show how the NHS has been led into a bed crisis. The method is also extended beyond international benchmarking to illustrate how it can be applied at a local or regional level in the process of long-term bed planning. Issues regarding the volatility in hospital admissions are also addressed to explain the need for surge capacity and why an adequate average bed occupancy margin is required for an optimally functioning hospital.
Keywords: hospital bed numbers; optimum occupancy; bed models; deaths; international comparison; benchmarking; healthcare policy; policy-based evidence; patient flow; queuing theory; infections; surge capacity hospital bed numbers; optimum occupancy; bed models; deaths; international comparison; benchmarking; healthcare policy; policy-based evidence; patient flow; queuing theory; infections; surge capacity

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with a minor correction to the readability of Figure 1 and references. This change does not affect the scientific content of the article.

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Jones, R.P. Addressing the Knowledge Deficit in Hospital Bed Planning and Defining an Optimum Region for the Number of Different Types of Hospital Beds in an Effective Health Care System. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20, 7171. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20247171

AMA Style

Jones RP. Addressing the Knowledge Deficit in Hospital Bed Planning and Defining an Optimum Region for the Number of Different Types of Hospital Beds in an Effective Health Care System. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2023; 20(24):7171. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20247171

Chicago/Turabian Style

Jones, Rodney P. 2023. "Addressing the Knowledge Deficit in Hospital Bed Planning and Defining an Optimum Region for the Number of Different Types of Hospital Beds in an Effective Health Care System" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 20, no. 24: 7171. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20247171

APA Style

Jones, R. P. (2023). Addressing the Knowledge Deficit in Hospital Bed Planning and Defining an Optimum Region for the Number of Different Types of Hospital Beds in an Effective Health Care System. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(24), 7171. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20247171

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