title: Long-term care provision, hospital bed blocking, and discharge destination for hip fracture and stroke patients.
abstract: We examine the relationship between long-term care supply (care home beds and prices) and (i) the probability of being discharged to a care home and (ii) length of stay in hospital for patients admitted to hospital for hip fracture or stroke. Using patient level data from all English hospitals and allowing for a rich set of demographic and clinical factors, we find no association between discharge destination and long-term care beds supply or prices. We do, however, find evidence of bed blocking: hospital length of stay for hip fracture patients discharged to a care home is shorter in areas with more long-term care beds and lower prices. Length of stay is over 30% shorter in areas in the highest quintile of care home beds supply compared to those in the lowest quintile.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Health Economics, University of York, York, UK. james.gaughan@york.ac.uk.
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gaughan
authors.affiliation: Centre for Health Economics, University of York, York, UK.
authors.forename: Hugh
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gravelle
authors.affiliation: Centre for Health Economics, University of York, York, UK.
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.affiliation: Centre for Health Economics, University of York, York, UK.|Department of Economics and Related Studies, University of York, York, UK.
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Siciliani
keywords: Bed blocking; Care homes; Hospitals; Length of stay; Long-term care; Substitution