What bed is that, then? (part 1)
Entering the world of the bed manager...
Back in 2020 when politicians, NHS senior managers and journalists were scaring the public over the availability of hospital beds (lack, thereof) and of wards brimming to capacity and beyond I nudged members of John Dee’s Almanac into asking simple questions such as: what bed is that, then?
In the NHS there are beds, beds and beds. Not all beds are created equal and one of the more despised of NHS managers is the bed manager. You’ve got a nice, clean unit with beds made up ready to take surgery cases when along comes the bed manager and snaffles them. There are beds assigned to dedicated units such as thoracic surgery and cardiac surgery, and there are ward beds serving different specialisms and disciplines. Then there are beds serving the broad areas of mental illness, maternity, learning disabilities and geriatrics in addition to beds serving general and acute medicine1 (what the public think of as ‘beds’). Then there are paediatric beds, neonatal beds and adult beds. Then there are d…