{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,19]],"date-time":"2025-11-19T20:37:49Z","timestamp":1763584669994,"version":"3.45.0"},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"BMJ","issue":"6073","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[1977,5,28]],"date-time":"1977-05-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":233625600000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/www.bmj.com\/company\/legal-information\/terms-conditions\/legal-information\/tdm-licencepolicy"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Br Med J"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[1977,5,28]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>In a cross-sectional survey of 325 surgical and orthopaedic beds 43 (16%) of the 265 occupied beds were filled by patients who had no medical need to be in an acute ward. They had been in hospital for a median time of 40 weeks up to the survey date. Of the 43 patients, 11 were awaiting transfer to a geriatric ward; 13 to community residential care; and seven to their homes. There was no plan for discharge or transfer for the remaining 12 (28%). Those \"at risk\" of becoming long-stay patients for social reasons on these wards were women, over 75, living alone or with one relative, who had been admitted to hospital in emergency with a fractured femur, head injury, or other trauma. Action necessary to reduce the number of social long-stay patients includes (a) changing attitudes to the solving of social case problems; (b) revising procedures of assessment and planning of future care; (c) improving teamwork and record keeping within the hospital and the community services; (d) providing a better balance of acute, medium and long-stay hospital beds; and (e) putting more resources into rehabilitation.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.1.6073.1395","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2009,4,2]],"date-time":"2009-04-02T18:32:30Z","timestamp":1238697150000},"page":"1395-1396","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":19,"title":["Blocked beds."],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"1","author":[{"given":"F W","family":"Murphy","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[1977,5,28]]},"container-title":["BMJ"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"http:\/\/data.bmj.org\/tdm\/10.1136\/bmj.1.6073.1395","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/syndication.highwire.org\/content\/doi\/10.1136\/bmj.1.6073.1395","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,19]],"date-time":"2025-11-19T20:33:19Z","timestamp":1763584399000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.bmj.com\/lookup\/doi\/10.1136\/bmj.1.6073.1395"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[1977,5,28]]},"references-count":0,"journal-issue":{"issue":"6073","published-online":{"date-parts":[[1977,5,28]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[1977,5,28]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1136\/bmj.1.6073.1395"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/bmj.1.6073.1395","relation":{},"ISSN":["0007-1447","1468-5833"],"issn-type":[{"type":"print","value":"0007-1447"},{"type":"electronic","value":"1468-5833"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[1977,5,28]]}}}