'Bed block' is when new patients can’t be admitted to a hospital due to a lack of beds.
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00:00To be admitted to the emergency department of a hospital, a bed must be available.
00:06When all ward and elective surgery beds are full, it means that someone in the emergency department can't be admitted, preventing a new patient from being accommodated.
00:17When there isn't enough beds to admit patients, the hospital is experiencing bed block.
00:24But the patients keep arriving. If a patient arrives by ambulance and there is no bed available, paramedics must stay with them, making them then unavailable for other emergencies.
00:38Several ambulances make queue outside a hospital, waiting to transfer their patients. This is referred to as ambulance ramping.
00:48It's not just the problem that's affecting the big metropolitan hospitals, it's also happening out in the country areas.
00:54Instead of putting all the pressure on the emergency department, try and bring the patient load back out into the community.
01:01Bed block often occurs when there's a high demand without adequate resources or staff.
01:07A major factor is when patients are medically ready to be discharged, but cannot safely live home alone.
01:15If there isn't adequate aged care or disability support available, they continue to occupy the bed.