Existing methods for calculating the number of beds in a hospital or specialist bed pool (maternity, paediatrics, ICU, SCBU, etc) are prone to error and bias.

HCAF have developed a method called "E-Plus for Beds" which is based on trends in occupied bed days. This method, which has been extensively validated over many years, gives enhanced accuracy and allocates the correct occupancy level based on the size of the bed pool. A further adaption of this method is used for the more complex needs of the medical bed pool (including Paediatrics) where seasonal variation is a vitally important consideration and for determining the correct number of beds. The same model is also used to determine the correct number of maternity and birthing beds.

HCAF offer a half day seminar to assist hospital managers and executives understand the issues behind bed allocation including average occupancy, the turn-over interval and the link between size, occupancy and bed availability for the next admission.

All this is combined with expert knowledge of the very long term national & international trends in emergency  admissions which is the missing ingredient in advice given by others in this area. Refer to the emergency admission  folder for more details. HCAF have also discovered that the volatility associated with emergency bed demand follows long term cycles. This has important implications to understanding why it is more difficult to manage bed pools in particular years when apparent average occupancy looks to be the same.

If you are thinking of building a new hospital, expanding your overnight or day surgery facilities, considering reserve or surge bed capacity for the winter or wondering how best to allocate beds within a highly constrained environment our 15 years of industry leading expertise in this area will be an asset to your project.

For more information contact Dr Rod Jones by email at: hcaf_rod@yahoo.co.uk