bed blocker

A derogatory term for a person in a hospital, typically an older patient, who is unable to live alone but no longer needs hospital treatment, thus occupying a bed that more needy patients might otherwise use. Primarily heard in UK. The nursing staff is starting to gripe about all the bed blockers.

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Ferruccio	fer-ROOT-cho	Italian
Amador	-	Spanish
FabÓ	-	Hungarian
Chidi	-	Western African, Igbo
Wenzel	-	German
Arcangelo	-	Italian