bed-blocker

bed-blocker
 n.— «A former railway worker who paid his taxes and worked hard to put two children through private school, Ray Smith had been languishing in Launceston General Hospital since August, waiting for a bed in a secure dementia facility. Health bureaucrats cursed him as a “bed blocker,” which is ironic given Smith’s propensity to wander off up the corridor and out the front door.» —“Age and the long wait” by Kate Legge The Australian Apr. 17, 2004. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)

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Further reading

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