Northerner
Admin (Retired)
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Hospitals are all about flow. As new patients arrive, others must move on through the system and, eventually, leave.
But what has happened in the past month is that the system has stalled. Or - as one doctor put it to me - there has been "gridlock". At least in some places.
Let's take it step-by-step. Each year more than 14m patients arrive at A&E - effectively the front-door of the hospital.
Most of those are dealt with by the doctors and nurses in A&E. But one in four need more complicated care than can be given so are admitted into the hospital. These tend to be the frailest and most vulnerable patients.
Once the decision has been made to admit, those patients need to be found a bed. When that has happened, they can receive their treatment and, once they are ready, leave the hospital.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-30742825
But what has happened in the past month is that the system has stalled. Or - as one doctor put it to me - there has been "gridlock". At least in some places.
Let's take it step-by-step. Each year more than 14m patients arrive at A&E - effectively the front-door of the hospital.
Most of those are dealt with by the doctors and nurses in A&E. But one in four need more complicated care than can be given so are admitted into the hospital. These tend to be the frailest and most vulnerable patients.
Once the decision has been made to admit, those patients need to be found a bed. When that has happened, they can receive their treatment and, once they are ready, leave the hospital.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-30742825