Humza Yousaf challenged over Government’s ‘dismal failure’ on delayed discharge

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf is being urged to tackle the “life-threatening crisis” caused by delayed discharge, after new figures showed a 58% increase in the number of days people spent in hospital when they were well enough to leave.

Public Health Scotland data showed that in March this year there were some 53,600 days spent in hospital by people who no longer needed in-patient care but whose discharge had been delayed.

That was up by 58% from the 33,840 additional days patients spent in hospital in March 2021.

The latest statistics also showed that in March this year an average of 1,729 NHS hospital beds were occupied each day by people who were clinically well enough to leave hospital – up from 1,704 in February 2022.

A hospitals census, carried out on the last Thursday of March, showed that at that point there were 1,836 patients whose discharge had been delayed, a rise of 8% from February’s total.

Labour health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said the rising number of people being held up in hospital meant A&E patients were facing longer waits to be admitted.

She accused the Scottish Government of “failing to act” on this, saying: “Lives are being lost because of people being left stranded at A&E waiting for urgent help.

“The lack of bed capacity in hospitals due to delayed discharge is having a direct impact on waiting times at A&E.

“The SNP’s dismal failure to tackle delayed discharge, having promised to end it more than seven years ago, is driving this life-threatening crisis and piling pressure on to every part of our NHS.”

She insisted: “The Health Secretary must stop commenting on this crisis and start tackling it.

“We urgently need a real plan to tackle these spiralling levels of delayed discharge and protect our NHS.”

Conservative social care spokesman Craig Hoy meanwhile hit out at the “SNP’s broken promises and continued inaction on delayed discharge”.

The Scottish Government had promised to eradicate delayed discharges in 2015, but Mr Hoy said that “successive SNP ministers have completely failed to do so”.

He stated: “Patients who are desperate to return home to their own communities are suffering longer and longer delays as a result of SNP inaction.

“The SNP’s plans for a national care service will only make things worse as overstretched local care providers and frontline staff try to ensure patients are safely discharged back into the community.

“Delayed discharge is still on the increase yet we have seen nothing in the way of a plan from the SNP to alleviate the pressure on our hospitals and social care facilities. Yet again, Humza Yousaf is asleep at the wheel when it comes to tackling problems in our NHS.”

Meanwhile, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: “The pressure and gaps in community care are causing more and more people to be stuck in hospital unnecessarily.

“The situation is as bad as ever. People should never have to wait weeks or months on a care home place or help to return home.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “During the coronavirus pandemic we have continued to work with health and social care partnerships to reduce delays in people leaving hospital.

“It is critical that people are cared for in the right setting and that vital hospital beds are there for those who need them.

“Being at home or in a community setting is in the best interests of anyone who no longer has any clinical need to be in hospital.”

The spokesperson said that the “whole health and social care system is under severe pressure and staff continue to work tirelessly to provide safe care”.

But they said ministers had launched an improvement programme, called Discharge without Delay, aimed at improving discharge planning.

The spokesperson continued: “Significant additional funding has been allocated to support social care, including £62 million to enhance care at home capacity; £48 million to increase the hourly rate of pay; £40 million to provide interim care arrangements; and £20 million to enhance multi-disciplinary teams.

“Funding is also being used to rapidly scale up Hospital at Home services, which aim to reduce acute admissions and support timely discharge.

“We have also invested in innovative services that aim to care for more people at home. For example, since 2020 we have invested over £4.5 million in the development of Hospital at Home, and there are currently 20 partnerships with an active Hospital at Home service.”

There are also record numbers of patients delayed under the adults with incapacity legislation, the spokesperson said, explaining: “These are patients who, although clinically ready for discharge, cannot be legally discharged without a court-appointed guardian being in place.

“We employed a mental health officer to work with partnerships to identify the barriers within this legal process at local levels and will be turning this in to an action plan to drive improvement.”