Bed block mess failing patients

BY VIVIENNE AITKEN THE Scottish Goverment’s failure to abolish delayed discharges in the NHS has cost £440million since Nicola Sturgeon became First Minister in 2014, Labour said.

Figures released yesterday show 43,244 bed days were lost in May alone because of the lack of adequate support to allow well patients to return home or go into a nursing home – up nine per cent on the same time last year.

There were 1390 people awaiting discharge that month – eight per cent more than the previous year. There has been a steady rise each month since January.

Meanwhile, only 92 per cent of A&E patients were seen within the four-hour window – three per cent short of the target.

It equates to 2161 people spending more time than they should in casualty. Of those, 142 waited more than eight hours and 26 were still waiting after 12 hours.

The target has not been met on any week since July 30 last year.

The numbers of operations cancelled because of a lack of beds did fall but 489 operations were cancelled as a result of the shortage.

Scottish Labour’s Anas Sarwar MSP said: “Much of the delay in discharging patients is due to social care issues and delays in care assessments – the result of the SNP Government’s £1.5billion cut to council budgets.” ● THE number of Scots teenagers getting pregnant fell to the lowest level since records began.

The rates decreased for the ninth consecutive year to a rate of 31.6 per 1000 women and the gap between most and least deprived narrowed.