Maintenance patients — that is what a report on NSW Health calls elderly people who languish on wards without actually needing acute care.

“On any given day, there are significant numbers of elderly patients occupying beds in public hospitals that could, if an aged care bed were available, be discharged,” says the Special Commission of Inquiry into Healthcare Funding report, published last week.

“The high number of maintenance patients occupying hospital beds at any given time has financial implications for the NSW public health system and creates risks for patients and staff.

“The large numbers of maintenance patients also create bed block, impacting the ability of a facility to move patients through the hospital.”