Number of hospital beds occupied due to delayed discharges at new high
The number of hospital beds occupied by people who were ready to be discharged has reached a new record high, figures show.
An average of 1,898 beds were taken each day by people who were ready to leave hospital in October – the highest on record since current guidance was introduced in July 2016.
It is also an increase of 4% from September, where the daily average was 1,832, according to latest Public Health Scotland (PHS) statistics.
A total of 1,910 people had their discharge from a Scottish hospital delayed, which typically occurs where a patient is clinically ready to leave hospital but is awaiting other necessary care, support or accommodation.
The average wait in October was 23 days, the same as the previous two months.
There were 58,826 days spent in hospital by people who were ready to leave, an increase of 17% from October 2021, where the figure reached 50,185.
Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said: “In common with health services across the UK and globally, NHS Scotland is working under significant pressure and the pandemic continues to affect services.
“A ministerial advisory group has been established to discuss and tackle current system pressures. The group meets weekly with the Deputy First Minister, health ministers and minister for local government all in attendance.
“Funding is also being used to rapidly scale up Hospital at Home services with a further £3.6 million made available in the 2022/23 budget, to reduce acute admissions and support timely discharge.
“Funding of £124 million has been allocated to enhance care at home capacity; £200 million to increase the hourly rate of pay to £10.50; £20 million to provide interim care arrangements; and £40 million to enhance multi-disciplinary teams.”
In Scotland, the rate of delayed discharge for acute locations is around 17 per 100,000 of the population.
England’s figure equates to 24 per 100,000, which the Scottish Government said is around 41% higher than Scotland.
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has hit out at the Scottish Government’s plans for a National Care Service which would overhaul the social care sector, amid the record high figures.
He said: “Today’s figures are a deafening indictment of the crisis in social care. More people than ever before are unable to leave hospital because they can’t get the care they need in the community.
“The Government must move heaven and earth to tackle this emergency. We can’t afford to wait for the wrong solution in four years in the shape of a ministerial takeover of social care and a billion-pound bureaucracy.”
He added: “The legislation must be withdrawn altogether and the money put into services and staff.”
Dr Sandesh Gulhane, Scottish Tory health spokesman, said: “The SNP promised to eradicate delayed discharge in 2015, yet seven years later and the problem is worse than ever.
“It’s soul-destroying for medically fit patients to be needlessly stuck in hospital, simply because social care isn’t available to them. The knock-on effects of delayed discharge are equally damaging, as other patients who desperately need hospital beds can’t get them.”
He added: “Patients are suffering as a result of the Health Secretary’s failures. The SNP need to come to their senses, U-turn on the National Care Service, and sack Humza Yousaf.”