Number of delayed discharge hospital patients down, figures show

The number of people delayed in hospital has decreased in the latest figures, with December seeing a 5% drop from the previous month.

There were 1,813 people delayed in December, figures from Public Health Scotland (PHS) show, down from 1,910 in November.

However, the average length of delays increased by seven days to 29 days in December – the highest average length for the previous three months.

Commenting on the figures, a Scottish Government spokesman said: “We are working closely with health boards and health and social care partnerships to create the necessary capacity (and) ensure patients are assessed and discharged with the appropriate care package as quickly as possible.

“We are also continuing to work with local partners and Cosla to address the variability of delayed discharge across local authority areas and supporting the growth of hospital at home to increase capacity as part of our winter plan.”

Scottish Conservative health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane said: “The SNP promised to eradicate delayed discharge in 2015, yet nine years later it continues to have a devasting effect on frontline staff and patients.

“The SNP’s empty promises have led to a shocking increase in 2023 of the total of bed days occupied by patients who were fit to be discharged.

“Successive health secretaries have failed to ensure that vital social care packages are in place, resulting in patients being left languishing in hospitals for longer than they should be.”

He added: “The severe levels of delayed discharge have a significant impact on the entirety of our NHS; already increased A&E waits are resulting in unnecessary patients dying due to this, by having increased A&E waits and suffering in pain due to operations being cancelled due to delays.

“The distracted and discredited Michael Matheson must get a grip on these appalling figures before even more lives are put in danger due to a lack of available hospital beds and unnecessary delays.”