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
NoemÍ	no-e-MEE (Spanish)	Spanish, Portuguese
Jimmie	JIM-ee	English
Chanokh	-	Biblical Hebrew
Mufaddal	-	Arabic
Sigmundr	-	Ancient Scandinavian
Ranulf	-	Scottish