Bed Census Audit
A comprehensive review of Bed Utilisation in selected acute care and community hospital facilities in their region using clinical admission/discharge criteria. Specifically, the audit evaluates:
- The clinical appropriates of the level of care patients are receiving at the time of the Bed Census Audit (BCA) to answer specific queries
- Is the patient receiving acute care in an acute care bed? Or transitional care (sub-acute nurse led care)? Or Intermediate/Rehabilitation Care? Or Palliative/hospice care?
- Is the patient in a community hospital bed receiving Transitional/Sub-acute Care? Or Intermediate/Rehabilitation Care? Or Palliative/hospice care? Or care that could be delivered in a Nursing Care Home of Clinical Home Care Team?
- The reasons the patient is in a level of care bed that is not clinically required i.e., the patient needs a SS package of care, District Nurse support once discharged, etc.
In addition to reviewing the level of care the patient was receiving in the bed they occupy at the time of the audit, the BCA also queries:
- Whether existing schemes to avoid admissions or arrange discharge where clinically appropriate to do so were effective and efficiently utilised
- If an alternative level of care was available and the patient’s admission could have been avoided or length of stay reduced, why wasn’t the patient in that level of care i.e., because the required resource was full/not available, or the required resource had not been commissioned
- Whether there is a link between ‘avoidable admissions’ to a Medical
The BCA patient review process typically is conducted over a 5 day period, 3 to 4 times each year or can be conducted as a one off audit. The review includes patients in acute care and intermediate care beds commissioned by the PCT or operated by the Trust.
The BCA uses a software programme on mobile laptop computers, when the BCA is complete the data from said computers is downloaded and correlated to generate specific reports which builds into a general report, and provides overviews for next stage planning. The software data elements are configurable for the client’s specific needs.
The Modeladvice BCA has been successful in all areas of performance improvement in general and in specific areas such as commissioning, hospital planning, resource management, accountability and financial awareness for both Trusts and PCTs.