Delayed Discharges: Does Staff Well-Being Matter?

Delayed discharges of patients from hospitals, also known as bed--blocking is a long standing policy concern. Such delays can increase hospital treatment costs and may also lead to poorer patient health and experience. Prior research indicates that external factors, such as, greater availability and better affordability of long term care associated with lower delays. Using theories from Economics, this study examines the role of within--hospital factors, namely, staff well--being in alleviating hospital delayed days. We use a new panel database of delays in all English hospital trusts from 2011/12 to 2014/15. Employing longitudinal count data models, the paper finds that staff well--being is associated with lower hospital delayed discharges controlling for long--term factors and management quality. The findings are robust to alternative methods and measures of delayed discharges.