Hospital bed occupancy demystified and why hospitals of different size and complexity must run at different average occupancy levels

Part one of this series investigated the adequacy of current models used to forecast bed demand. This part explores the issues surrounding the correct level of occupancy required to deliver effective and safe health care. Economy of scale as explained by queuing theory is a significant factor in understanding bed occupancy. However, irrespective of the occupancy specific to different sized hospitals an absolute maximum occupancy (even during the winter months) in the range 82% to 85% is required to maintain the level of hospital acquired infection at the minimum possible level. An edited version of this article has been published as: Jones R (2011) Hospital bed occupancy demystified. British Journal of Healthcare Management 17(6): 242-248. Please use this to cite.