{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,20]],"date-time":"2026-08-20T02:25:13Z","timestamp":1787192713753,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"CSIRO Publishing","issue":"3","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,3]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Delays in transferring patients from acute care to inpatient rehabilitation contribute to hospital exit-block; however, the magnitude of rehabilitation-related delays is poorly quantified in contemporary health systems. This study aimed to quantify the time spent waiting for inpatient rehabilitation in Australian acute hospitals.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Secondary analysis of a prospective observational cohort study of consecutive adult patients accepted for inpatient rehabilitation across two metropolitan tertiary hospitals in Sydney, Australia, over a 4-month period was performed. The main outcome measures were the time from rehabilitation readiness to transfer, and the proportion of acute bed-days spent waiting for rehabilitation.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Among the 373 patients accepted for inpatient rehabilitation, a total of 1499 acute bed-days were spent waiting for transfer. The overall acute length of stay for the cohort was 7953 days, indicating that 18.8% of all acute bed-days were occupied by patients waiting for rehabilitation transfer. The median wait time was 2 days (IQR 1\u20136). Although 40% of patients were transferred within 1 day of being deemed ready for rehabilitation, 42% waited \u22654 days, and 15.7% experienced delays exceeding 1 week.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Delayed access to inpatient rehabilitation makes a substantial contribution to acute bed occupancy. Nearly one-fifth of acute bed-days among patients requiring inpatient rehabilitation were spent waiting for transfer. Strategies such as earlier identification of rehabilitation needs, in-reach rehabilitation in acute care, and expansion of subacute capacity may help reduce delays and improve hospital throughput.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1071\/ah26106","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,20]],"date-time":"2026-08-20T02:06:30Z","timestamp":1787191590000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Patient flow implications of delayed access to inpatient rehabilitation in Australian acute hospitals"],"prefix":"10.1071","volume":"50","author":[{"given":"Jane","family":"Wu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"St Vincent's Hospital Sydney A , , , .","place":["Darlinghurst, NSW 2010, Australia"]},{"name":"St Vincent\u2019s Clinical School B , , , .","place":["Sydney, NSW 2010, Australia"]},{"name":"University of New South Wales B , , , .","place":["Sydney, NSW 2010, Australia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2608-3495","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Yuriko","family":"Watanabe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"St Vincent's Hospital Sydney A , , , .","place":["Darlinghurst, NSW 2010, Australia"]},{"name":"St Vincent\u2019s Clinical School B , , , .","place":["Sydney, NSW 2010, Australia"]},{"name":"University of New South Wales B , , , .","place":["Sydney, NSW 2010, Australia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9891-3307","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Christine T.","family":"Shiner","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"St Vincent's Hospital Sydney A , , , .","place":["Darlinghurst, NSW 2010, Australia"]},{"name":"School of Clinical Medicine C , , , .","place":["Sydney, NSW 2010, Australia"]},{"name":"Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of New South Wales C , , , .","place":["Sydney, NSW 2010, Australia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1228-0658","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Abraham","family":"Arulanandam","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Royal Prince Alfred Hospital D , , .","place":["Sydney, NSW 2050, Australia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-6825-6056","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Swee-Ling","family":"Toh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Prince of Wales Hospital E , , .","place":["Sydney, NSW 2031, Australia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-4459-1100","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Louise","family":"Sellars","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation F , , .","place":["Sydney, NSW 2065, Australia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"67","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,20]]},"reference":[{"key":"2026081922062567000_R1","article-title":"Australian Medical Association (AMA). 2023 Ambulance ramping report card.","year":"2023","journal-title":"AMA;"},{"key":"2026081922062567000_R2","article-title":"Ambulance ramping is getting worse in Australia. 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