Delayed hospital discharges go up

Figures released by Public Health Scotland  showed in  January this year there were 4,578 bed days occupied, compared to 3,662 in January 2024. The difference is up 25 per cent.

Delayed discharge is when a patient is medically cleared to go home but cannot leave hospital, often because a social care package is not in place or there is a lack of places in care homes or sheltered housing.

Across the region thousands of hours of assessed care are not being provided in homes because of a lack of carers, says South Scotland MSP Colin Smyth.

“Delayed discharge is one of the biggest concerns for our NHS. January’s figures for Ayrshire and Arran show a 25 per cent increase when compared to 2024, which is very worrying.

“The human cost of delayed discharge cannot be underestimated but what continues to give me serious concerns is the cost to our amazing NHS.

“The more people remaining in hospital when they are fit to be discharged, the more pressure is piled onto the NHS and all the fantastic healthcare workers who are trying to help them.

“What we need is long term investment, including tackling the woeful low level of sheltered housing, and start paying care workers a fair wage, which would help with the recruitment crisis the sector faces.

"We also need to drive up the standards of care, because too often people receive just the very basic support, which isn’t enough.”

You can see the delayed discharges figures here:  publichealthscotland.scot/publications/delayed-discharges-in-nhsscotland-monthly/delayed-discharges-in-nhsscotland-monthly-figures-for-january-2025#section-3-1">publichealthscotland.scot/publications/delayed-discharges-in-nhsscotland-monthly/delayed-discharges-in-nhsscotland-monthly-figures-for-january-2025#section-3-1