Rise in average beds lost to delayed discharges in Scotland’s NHS

The average number of hospital beds lost every day to delayed discharge in Scotland increased slightly in May, latest figures show.

The most up-to-date figures released by Public Health Scotland (PHS) on Tuesday showed 1,744 beds occupied on average each day, a 2% increase from the April figure of 1,711.

And there were 54,077 days spent in hospital by people who were able to leave in May, increasing 2% on the 52,914 days during the same period of 2022.

Delayed discharges typically occur when a patient is considered healthy enough to leave hospital but a lack of appropriate social care prevents them from doing so, with 73% prevented from leaving for this reason.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “It is critical that people are cared for in the right setting as we continue to face pressures on our health and social care system.

“That is why we have put in place the Delayed Discharge and Hospital Occupancy Action Plan to support health boards to create the necessary capacity to deal with emerging pressures.

“We will continue to work with both health boards and health and social care partnerships as they introduce these actions and begin to prepare for winter.”