£132M BEDLAM
Hospital job vacancies on the increase Government’s own figures show shock cost of bed-blocking
THE number of unfilled jobs for consultants and nurses has risen.
Figures released yesterday showed 431 consultant posts were vacant – a rise of 0.7 per cent on the same time last year.
There are 2789 nursing and midwifery posts unfilled.
The Royal College of Nursing director Theresa Fyffe said: “The pay freeze and workload challenges are adding to the anger of nursing staff who are constantly being asked to do more with less.” A windsurfer has broken the world speed record for the second time. Zara Davis, 51, an osteopath from Bristol, clocked up 54mph in Luderitz, Namibia. BED-BLOCKING is costing the NHS an estimated £132million a year, statistics have revealed.
Scottish Government figures show one in 12 hospital beds was blocked last year – amounting to a loss of more than 530,000 bed days.
The problem has got worse recently, with 43,374 bed days lost in October – an increase of 1656 on the previous month.
There has been a month on month increase since May.
A census taken two months ago showed there were 1402 patients well enough to be discharged but held up in hospital because of a lack of arrangements for returning home or into a care home.
Yesterday, Lib-Dem health spokesman Alex Cole-Hamilton said: “Well over 1000 patients are still in hospital every day solely because the care they need in the community isn’t available.”
Scottish Labour’s health spokesman Anas Sarwar added that the bed-blocking stats were the result of a “complete and utter shambles by the SNP”.
He said: “Patients and staff are suffering because for a decade now the SNP have failed to manage our NHS for the long term.”
Surf’s up to 54mph