Bed utilization study in paediatric medical patients at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Barbados

ABSTRACT

Details of a bed utilisation study of 1,654 paediatric medical ward admissisons to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Barbados, during 1983 ara analysed. Forty-one per cent of admissisons had a respiratory problem, 14% had infections diseases, 9% central nervous system conditions, and 36% had diseases of other systems. Analysis of hospital stay revealed that 20% of patients spent less than 24 hours and these mostly for bronchial astma (31%), repiratory tract infections (15%), and gastroenteritis (10%). Most long-stay patients had either congenital heart disease (12%), social problems (11%) or diabetes mellitus (10%).. We recommend that the establishment of a short-stay unit could eliminate 20% of admissions, spent less than 24hours. A further 21% (poisoning and gastroenteritis) could be significantly reduced with good health education