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2. Department of Health. NHS inpatient elective admission events and outpatient referrals and attendances, quarter ending December 2010 . London: DH, 2011. www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsStatistics/DH_124553 [Accessed 2 July 2012]
3. Length of hospital stay for elderly people is substantially higher in the NHS compared with Kaiser Permanente and US Medicare programmes;Sklar;Evidence-based Healthcare & Public Health,2004
4. Department of Health. Report explains drop in hospital bed numbers . London: DH, 2006. www.dh.gov.uk/en/MediaCentre/DH_4135246 [Accessed 2 July 2012]
5. Average length of stay, delayed discharge, and hospital congestion