Recurring concern

Unreliable hospital bed bureau systems for identifying available beds

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First reported 19 Nov 2014•Latest report 7 Aug 2015

Definition

What this concern includes

Includes failures of hospital bed-bureau or equivalent bed-identification processes to maintain visibility of available beds, identify beds suitable for patients requiring admission and route or re-route admission requests to the appropriate service, including emergency and child psychiatric admission pathways.

Not included

  • Excludes actual shortages or unavailability of hospital beds where no failure of a bed-bureau or bed-identification process is asserted.
  • Excludes general admission delays, bed placement failures and patient-flow problems where the bed-bureau system itself is not deficient.
  • Excludes specialist referral, transfer or placement processes that do not involve identifying or routing available hospital beds through a bed-bureau or equivalent system.
  • Excludes generic information-management, staffing or communication deficiencies without an explicit connection to hospital bed-bureau operation.
Reports
2

Distinct published reports

Individual concerns
2

A report can raise multiple concerns

Date range
2014–2015

First to latest report issue date

Stated actions
5

Described in published responses

Reports over time

Reports over time

Reports about this concern issued each year.

* 2026 is projected from reports observed to 7 Sep 2026.

Most frequent recipients

Most frequent recipients

Reports about this concern sent to each recipient.

NHS England2
East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust1
NHS Devon Integrated Care Board1
University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust1

Concerns and responses across reports

Only concerns grouped under this recurring concern are included. Select any concern, action or position to view the source wording.

  1. Leicester City and South Leicestershire

    AI-generated summary

    George Boulton · Prevention of Future Deaths report

    This summary was generated using AI from the published report. Please read the original report for the complete account.

    Report summary

    George Boulton developed an intracerebral bleed at home on 12 February 2015 and died on 14 February 2015 at Leicester Royal Infirmary. The report identified delays in arranging emergency transfer and failures to communicate or recognise the need to withhold dalteparin, which materially contributed to the continuing bleed.

    Read the report on judiciary.uk

    Source evidence

    How this individual concern was interpreted

    PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below.

    PFD Monitor interpretation

    Lack of a bed bureau system for identifying calls requiring emergency admission independently of bed availability

    Wider context from the report

    “2. The bed bureau did not appear from the evidence available in court to have a system for identifying calls that should have been re-routed to an emergency admission, and not be dependent on a bed, as early scanning was essential for proper diagnosis. ”

    Source location

    George Boulton · Prevention of Future Deaths report
    Page 2 · concerns

    Open source report

    Source evidence

    How this respondent action was interpreted

    PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.

    PFD Monitor interpretation

    Discuss the additional workforce changes required with lead commissioners to support AMPDS triage for urgent GP and healthcare-professional calls.

    Verbatim wording from the response

    “In order for EMAS to migrate over to this protocol and using a medical triage system (AMPDS) for all GP urgent and Bed Bureau calls, we will need to uplift the response capability across the region by additional Paramedics.”

    Source location

    2015-0255-Responses
    Page 2 · response
    Published 6 July 2015

    Open published response

    Source evidence

    How this respondent action was interpreted

    PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.

    PFD Monitor interpretation

    Communicate emergency-response guidance to lead commissioners for dissemination to GPs and Bed Bureau services.

    Verbatim wording from the response

    “As this implementation will take some considerable amount of time, as an immediate action we will communicate with our lead commissioners to disseminate the following message to all GP’s and Bed Bureau.”

    Source location

    2015-0255-Responses
    Page 2 · response
    Published 6 July 2015

    Open published response

    Source evidence

    How this respondent action was interpreted

    PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.

    PFD Monitor interpretation

    Ensure Bed Bureau staff remain aware of the process for suspected stroke admissions.

    Verbatim wording from the response

    “Our Head of Capacity and Flow, who manages the Bed Bureau, has identified the written entries that we hold concerning the telephone call received from the patient’s GP, and they indicate that at 15h14 a call was received from the GP who informed our Bed Bureau Call-Handler that she suspected that Mr Boulton was suffering from a stroke and that he was showing right-sided weakness. Our protocol for such patients is for our Bed Bureau staff to invite the GP to consider whether their patient ought properly to be admitted via ED and if so to remind the GP that Bed Bureau staff can only order ambulances on a non-emergency basis which can take up to two hours to arrive. This protocol appears to have been followed in this case.”

    Source location

    2015-0255-Responses
    Page 4 · response
    Published 6 July 2015

    Open published response

    Source evidence

    How this respondent action was interpreted

    PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.

    PFD Monitor interpretation

    Design a Bed Bureau flowchart prompting consideration of emergency admission for suspected stroke patients.

    Verbatim wording from the response

    “Since the conclusion of your Investigation, our Head of Capacity and Flow has ensured that all bed bureau staff continue to be aware of the process to be followed should a GP seek to admit a patient via Bed Bureau when a stroke is suspected.”

    Source location

    2015-0255-Responses
    Page 4 · response
    Published 6 July 2015

    Open published response

    Source evidence

    How this respondent position was interpreted

    PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.

    PFD Monitor interpretation

    Bed Bureau call takers cannot override the referring GP’s decision about whether a patient requires emergency admission.

    Verbatim wording from the response

    “• The non-medical call taker will ask the caller, “Does the condition present an immediate threat to life?” (I would like to draw your attention to the fact that in common with all other ambulance services our call takers are not clinical, and therefore cannot override a GP or bed bureau decision)”

    Source location

    2015-0255-Responses
    Page 1 · response
    Published 6 July 2015

    Open published response

    Source evidence

    How this respondent position was interpreted

    PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.

    PFD Monitor interpretation

    Implementing AMPDS triage for all GP and healthcare-professional urgent calls requires additional paramedics; implementation cannot proceed without increased staffing.

    Verbatim wording from the response

    “Prior to this Prevention of Future deaths (PFD) order being received our senior managers and business intelligence teams have explored the possibility of implementing the AMPDS system to triage all GP and Health Care Professionals (HCP) requests for urgent transport.”

    Source location

    2015-0255-Responses
    Page 2 · response
    Published 6 July 2015

    Open published response

    Source evidence

    How this respondent position was interpreted

    PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.

    PFD Monitor interpretation

    The hospital has a system for identifying GP calls requiring emergency admission, with staff awareness and a flow-chart being added to support that process.

    Verbatim wording from the response

    “Our Head of Capacity and Flow, who manages the Bed Bureau, has identified the written entries that we hold concerning the telephone call received from the patient’s GP, and they indicate that at 15h14 a call was received from the GP who informed our Bed Bureau Call-Handler that she suspected that Mr Boulton was suffering from a stroke and that he was showing right-sided weakness. Our protocol for such patients is for our Bed Bureau staff to invite the GP to consider whether their patient ought properly to be admitted via ED and if so to remind the GP that Bed Bureau staff can only order ambulances on a non-emergency basis which can take up to two hours to arrive. This protocol appears to have been followed in this case.”

    Source location

    2015-0255-Responses
    Page 4 · response
    Published 6 July 2015

    Open published response

    Source evidence

    How this respondent position was interpreted

    PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.

    PFD Monitor interpretation

    The referring GP remains responsible for identifying when emergency admission is required.

    Verbatim wording from the response

    “In our view it remains a matter for the GP to identify when emergency admission is required for their patient.”

    Source location

    2015-0255-Responses
    Page 5 · response
    Published 6 July 2015

    Open published response

    Source evidence

    How this respondent position was interpreted

    PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.

    PFD Monitor interpretation

    Bed Bureau services are locally organised and guided by the referring GP’s opinion and requirements regarding emergency admission.

    Verbatim wording from the response

    “Bed Bureau Services are local and variable in their organisation; however such services are guided by the opinion and requirements of the referring GP. As stated above, NHS England proposes to engage with GPs through their membership organisations so that all suspected strokes receive a 999 response.”

    Source location

    2015-0255-Responses
    Page 7 · response
    Published 6 July 2015

    Open published response
  2. Exeter & Greater Devon

    AI-generated summary

    George Christian Werb · Prevention of Future Deaths report

    This summary was generated using AI from the published report. Please read the original report for the complete account.

    Report summary

    George Christian Werb was receiving inpatient treatment for serious mental health issues and died after walking onto a railway track near his home while on home leave. The report raises concerns about the distant placement, inadequate risk assessment, poor communication and engagement with the family, and insufficient local child psychiatric beds.

    Read the report on judiciary.uk

    Source evidence

    How this individual concern was interpreted

    PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below.

    PFD Monitor interpretation

    Lack of an effective bed bureau system for identifying child psychiatric bed spaces

    Wider context from the report

    “(1) The community team had to spend much time making numerous telephone calls to locate a child psychiatric bed. There was not at the time, and still appears to be no, or no effective bed bureau system to identify spaces. This is wasteful of clinician time, creates inevitable delays and is indicative that there are routinely too few available beds to serve the needs of our child psychiatric patients. (2) On a previous admission during May 2014 the bed located was in Hurncombe, and George was removed by his father as the bedroom had inadequate furniture, had no bed linen and there was concern the environment was adding to George’s distress. The distance between home and this placement was in excess of 3 hours travel time. (3) On the index admission, George was placed in the Priory Hospital, Southampton, a distance of over 2 hours travelling time from home. This is not an NHS facility and is specifically for “overflow” patients from all across England, many of whom are therefore huge distances from their home, their family, their friends and community support. (4) Due to the distance, the hospital made the decision that family therapy could not take place (although the parents would have engaged if the importance of this was explained) and periods of home leave were extended due to travelling times, rather than in response to clinical need. (5) There was poor attendance at the CPA meeting, and both parents and the community team only “attended” by telephone, which was far from ideal and impacted on the effectiveness of communication between all parties. (6) Having local accessibility where in patient care is required was recognized in the Mental Health Crisis Care Concordat published 18 February 2014 to be important to keep the young person close to home, school and friends and this was also recognized by all the clinicians at request to be important and necessary. With current provision of beds this need is not being met, and is impacting on patient care. (7) In this case I consider the distance of the unit directly contributed to the circumstances that led to George’s death. ”

    Source location

    George Christian Werb · Prevention of Future Deaths report
    Page 2 · concerns

    Open source report

    Source evidence

    How this respondent action was interpreted

    PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.

    PFD Monitor interpretation

    Implement weekly CAMHS bed-capacity reporting and national case-manager teleconferences to support timely identification of available placements.

    Verbatim wording from the response

    “Since August 2013, NHS England has implemented a situation report (SITREP) process each Friday which requires all Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) inpatient providers to submit numbers of available beds to a national database. This data is used to produce a report that is available from lunch time on a Friday indicating available capacity at each of the inpatient services commissioned. The report is circulated via the Area Teams to all Tier 3/Community CAMHS so they can identify capacity as required and particularly on a Friday when there is often a peak in demand and over the weekend.”

    Source location

    2014-0510-Response-by-NHS-England
    Page 2 · response
    Published 19 November 2014

    Open published response
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Data last updated 7 September 2026