borrowed bed
borrowed bed
An NHS term of art for bed(s) temporarily made available for use by another specialty/significant facility other than the specialty/significant facility to which they are normally allocated.Types of bed borrowing:
• Bed borrowing for use
A bed borrowed on an individual basis, either to meet an immediate need for inpatient accommodation or to provide inpatient accommodation for specialties/significant facilities with a zero bed complement.
Examples:
(1) Outside of the main allocated inpatient areas for a particular consultant or specialty, and
(2) patients transferred to any non-inpatient bedded area (e.g., day units).
• Bed borrowing for availability
Beds borrowed in blocks to ensure accommodation during periods of upgrades and maintenance. The block of borrowed beds is available to the borrowing specialty but is not necessarily fully occupied.
• Bed borrowing between wards and/or consultants, as part of local bed management, which is not recorded nationally.
• Beds borrowed from another specialty or facility.