Finding hospital beds

Our Emergency Bed Service helps NHS healthcare professionals find hospital beds for seriously ill patients, and provides a safeguarding referral service for our crews.

We arrange for admission or referral of around 50,000 patients a year, as well as a range of other services.

Our Emergency Bed Service:

• helps GPs in London to make arrangements for patients to be admitted to hospital;
• collects information on the availability of intensive care beds for adults and children;
• directs hospitals to the nearest intensive care bed for their patient;
• helps hospitals to find beds for children if their children’s ward is full; and
• coordinates the service that transfers poorly new-born babies between hospitals in London, Kent, Surrey and Sussex.