Dissecting the patient stay in the UK.

A method of analysing the factors which contribute to the length of stay in England as an acute medical in-patient has been developed, and applied in both real-time and cross-sectional studies. The major factors delaying discharge were found to be the time taken to respond to treatment and the actions of agencies other than the acute medical unit of the hospital. Areas where improvement could be made have been identified and some changes implemented. The system can be applied to monitor the effect of such changes.