Bed strategy modelling and clinical engagement – “Bed Simulator”

A major London hospital already had plans for a bed re-configuration but before proceeding, they required evidence based clinical buy-in, which could only be fully achieved through the use of detailed simulation modelling. After all, this is one of the busiest hospitals in London, they – and we – had to get it right.

Our work focused on two key aspects: meeting with clinical and operational staff from across the hospital to understand the challenges that they faced and the opportunities they felt existed to reduce the length of stay. We also modelled bed occupancy in detail using hourly data at a patient level; this allowed us to simulate the effect of different initiatives identified by clinical and operational leaders.

The outputs from our work are playing a crucial role in helping the trust develop its bed strategy. We have been commended for our work and we have helped change key decisions, including a postponement to initial proposals to close a ward.

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Bed Simulator is the analytical engine which sits behind our bed simulation work. It has been developed based on feedback from clinicians and health service managers and it focuses on delivering the information that they need to develop confidence ahead of critical decisions, such as a bed reconfigurations.