['Three years ago a consultant geriatrician began regular visits to the coloproctology and general surgery wards of an acute Trust every weekday, to assist staff with the medical management, rehabilitation and discharge planning of patients aged 65\u2003years and above. The length of stay of these patients in the first 10\u2003months of the appointment was compared with younger concurrent controls and with historical controls in the preceding 10\u2003months.', 'The mean length of stay for the 4146 patients aged 16\u2003years and above in a 10-month intervention period was 1.3\u2003days shorter (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.86-1.74\u2003days) than for the 4002 patients in the 10-month control period. This pattern was consistent across all ages and types of surgery, including major colorectal resection.'] Does the benefit of geriatric intervention in surgery-increased throughput necessarily need more beds?