Rise In Patients Awaiting Discharge

The number of patients having to wait longer than the target time to be discharged from hospital has risen slightly again, new figures show.

In January this year, 329 patients were delayed more than four weeks after they were ready to be sent home.

This compares with 321 at the October 2014 census and 254 in January last year.

Delayed discharges - also known as bed blocking - happen when patients are ready to leave hospital but their necessary care, support and accommodation arrangements are not yet in place.

The current target states that nobody should wait more than four weeks from when they are clinically ready to be discharged, with that target set to come down to two weeks in April.

The January 2015 census shows a total of 766 delayed discharges, excluding delays of three days or less, compared with 947 in October 2014 and 776 in January last year.

There were 249 patients delayed from four days to two weeks at the January census, compared with 360 in October and 328 in January 2014.

Meanwhile, 517 patients were delayed over two weeks, compared with 587 in October and 448 in January 2014.

A total of 224 patients were delayed for over six weeks at the January census, compared with 215 in October, and 151 in January 2014.

Earlier this year, the Scottish Government announced a further £100 million will be invested in the NHS over the next three years to help cut the numbers of people waiting to be discharged from hospital.

Ministers have said tackling the problem of delayed discharges is a top priority for the administration at Holyrood.

Commenting on today's figures, Health Secretary Shona Robison said: Under this Government delayed discharge has fallen significantly, with a substantial reduction in the number of patients waiting over three days to be discharged and a fall of two thirds in the longest waits of over six weeks - from 606 in 2007 to 224 this January.

However, the statistics from October to December last year show an unacceptably high number of bed days occupied by delayed discharge patients and we are working to reduce this.

The significant decrease in the number of people waiting to be discharged at the January census is encouraging, particularly as during the colder months we would expect to see a rise in the number of delayed discharges.

This follows action we took at the end of last year, investing £10 million to address delayed discharge and improve the flow of patients through hospitals. In December we also allocated a further £10 million as part of the Winter Resilience Fund to support specific initiatives to tackle delays.

While the impact of this new work will take some time to be felt, today's figures from the January census do show that the overall numbers of patients delayed has reduced.''

The figures show there were 168,526 bed days occupied by delayed discharge patients during the period October to December 2014, compared with 154,588 during the previous quarter July to September.

Liberal Democrat MSP Jim Hume said: It is clear that SNP ministers must take urgent action to address the rising bed blocking crisis in our NHS.

Everyone knows that this is not a new problem but despite the promises of the SNP, they took their eye off the ball during the referendum and the situation seems to be getting worse, not better.''

Meanwhile, health statistics also show the number of staff working in Scotland's NHS has risen to a record high.

As of December 31 2014, the total number of NHS Scotland staff in post was almost 137,512 whole time equivalent (WTE) - an increase of 1.8% in a year.

Ms Robison said: Our NHS staff work incredibly hard to deliver excellent patient care day in and day out, and we are determined to give these staff the support they need to meet the increasing demands on our health service.

That is why it's welcome to see a further increase in the NHS workforce, with over 10,000 more staff under this Government and nearly 2,500 WTE extra members of staff in the last year alone.

In Scotland, we recognise the immense contribution of our staff to the daily running of the health service and we will continue to work with them to grow the NHS workforce, ensuring patients continue to receive the high quality care expected in Scotland.''