The recent AusDoc article on elderly patients languishing in hospital beds without needing acute care inspired me to think about the changing roles of hospital admissions over the years.

We’ve been aware of this issue for at least 20 years, with a 2008 AIHW report stating: “People entering permanent care stayed longer in hospital (24 days) than those returning home.”

I was fortunate to begin my hospital career before the concept of ‘bed access block’ had a name. But only just.

By the late 1980s in the inner-city hospital where I worked, the ED was so full with admitted patients waiting for ward beds that we felt the need to divert incoming ambulances.