NHS crippled by 200,000 days’ worth of bed-blocking
SCOTLAND’S hospitals dealt with 200,000 days’ worth of bed-blocking in the first five months of this year.
Shocking figures show the SNP has failed to keep its promise to ‘eradicate’ delayed discharge.
A report released by opposition parties show bed blocking caused over 200,000 lost ‘bed days’ from January to May.
An average of 1,377 beds were occupied each day by patients who are well enough to be sent home or to care homes, but are delayed by hold-ups.
These include problems finding a care home place or community support such as care workers or special equipment or adaptations to their home.
Scottish Labour said the daily bed blocking figure is higher than the number of beds in Scotland’s biggest hospital, laying bare the scale of the crisis.
In 2015, Health Secretary Shona Robison vowed to ‘eradicate’ the problem of bed blocking by the end of that year, but the figures show the SNP has failed to tackle the problem.
Last night, critics warned being stuck in hospital can be ‘very upsetting’ for patients and their families, risking deterioration in their health.
Scottish Labour’s health spokesman Anas Sarwar said: ‘Shona Robison promised to eradicate delayed discharges by the end of 2015, yet here we are in July 2017 with 200,000 bed days lost to delayed discharge already this year.
‘This is a mess of Shona Robison’s making and she cannot be trusted to deal with it. Much of the delays are due to social care issues and delays in care assessments – the result of years of an SNP government slashing local authority budgets, with £1.5billion cut since 2011.’
Bed blocking occurs when a hospital patient, often elderly, is well enough to be discharged home, with some form of support, or to a care home.
However, they are forced to remain in hospital because of hold ups in organising social care or for family reasons.
Dr Donald Macaskill, Chief Executive of Scottish Care, which represents the nation’s care homes, said: ‘To tackle delayed discharge, you have to look at the whole system.
‘Sometimes we don’t get care packages in place, or get people assessed quickly enough or have funding or sufficient places or even care homes.
‘But we are still having far too many people unnecessarily admitted to hospital. If we prevent people from having to go in, this is a critical way to address delayed discharge.
‘If we had adequate social care support in place in the community that would be a massive benefit to the individual and save a huge amount of money.’
The figures show an average of 1,377 beds occupied each day between January 1 and May 31 this year. Over the five months, 206,537 bed days were lost.
The Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow has 1,109 adult patient rooms, which Labour warns shows the scale of the crisis.
Scottish Conservative shadow health secretary Miles Briggs said: ‘These are deeply concerning numbers which confirm that the SNP government is failing to get to grips with delayed discharge despite promises that this is a priority.
‘Delayed discharge can be very upsetting for vulnerable patients and their families.
‘The integration of health and social care was supposed to help improve the process around finding care packages as efficiently as possible but it is clear there is still a great deal of work to do.’
Yesterday, Miss Robison said the Scottish Government is spending almost £500million annually on health and social care, to support community care packages. She added: ‘We are continuing to make progress on tackling delayed discharge. Between January and May, the number of bed days lost fell by around five per cent compared to the same period in 2016.’
‘Mess of Shona Robison’s making’