Government is delivering results on delayed discharge, says Health Secretary

Health Secretary Neil Gray has said the Scottish Government is “delivering results” on delayed discharge, as figures showed a 5% drop in time spent in hospital by patients deemed medically well enough to leave.

Mr Gray welcomed the latest data which showed, in May this year, 57,399 days were spent in hospital by patients whose discharge had been delayed.

This was down from a total of 60,196 in May 2024,  Public Health Scotland found, with the Health Secretary  adding the new  total was the lowest since October 2023.

Meanwhile, over the month of May, an average of 1,852 beds each day were occupied by patients whose discharge has been delayed – typically those who are well enough to go home but are waiting for care arrangements to be made.

Public Health Scotland noted this was “similar” to April’s total of 1,854, but lower than both March (1,940) and February (1,946).

Mr Gray said: “The number of hospital beds occupied by patients facing delayed discharge is down 5% compared to this time last year – the lowest level since October 2023 – showing the progress that is being made.

“Alongside recent improvements in A&E waiting times, this latest data shows our efforts are working and our plan is delivering results.”

Despite this, he stressed the Scottish Government “want to drive further improvements” – with the Health Secretary highlighting £200 million of investment in the Scottish budget to “reduce waiting lists, expand capacity, and remove the barriers that keep patients in hospital longer than necessary”.

This money would be “backed by a record £21 billion investment for health and social care”, Mr Gray added.

But, with then health secretary Shona Robison having pledged back in 2015 that the government would end delayed discharge, Scottish Conservative public health spokesperson Brian Whittle said: “These appalling figures highlight the SNP’s abject failure to get a grip on Scotland’s delayed discharge crisis, years after they promised to eradicate it.”

The Tory MSP said: “It’s soul-destroying for patients to be needlessly trapped in hospital for weeks on end, simply because there’s no social care package available for them.

“And so many of the other crises in our health service stem from the nationalists’ inability to tackle bed-blocking – including deadly A&E waits and cancelled operations and procedures.”

He said: “Floundering Neil Gray needs to get his act together by ensuring every penny of available resource is given to local social care providers, so that patients can be discharged from hospital and vital beds freed up for other patients.”

Labour health spokesperson Dame Jackie Baillie said that “hospitals are stretched to breaking point while Scots are stuck in wards despite being well enough to leave because of the SNP’s failure to support social care”.

She said: “It’s been a decade since the SNP pledged to end delayed discharge but it continues to pile pressure on our NHS, causing suffering and wasting millions of pounds.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton was also critical of the Government, saying: “The SNP have completely failed to get people the care they need at home or in the community so they can leave hospital on time.”

This problem, he said, is “creating a shortage of hospital beds for incoming patients, adding to the pressure in emergency departments and ramping up waiting times”.

Referring to the Government’s now abandoned attempt to set up a national care service, Mr Cole-Hamilton added: “The SNP broke their promise to fix this scandal and wasted time, energy and millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money on a top-down takeover of social care which did not address the actual problems the system faces.”