Tag: delayed discharge

Local MSP slams £82.5 million bill for delayed discharge in Capital

Edinburgh Labour list MSP Foysol Choudhury has slammed the SNP’s failure to end delayed discharge, after it was revealed that it has cost £82,411,987 in the City of Edinburgh over the last five years.

Statistics revealed by Scottish Labour have shown that the total cost of delayed discharge across Scotland has hit over £1bn over the last eight years.

In total, 325,736 bed days have been lost in Edinburgh due to delayed discharge between 2016/17 and 2020/21 with a total cost of £82,411,987.

Local MSP Foysol Choudhury has said that this is symbolic of SNP failure to deliver on its promises and shows the damage done to public health and finances by SNP incompetence.

He warned this will only get worse if the SNP fail to fix the growing crisis in social care, criticising the Scottish Government’s decision not to give carers a fair pay deal in this year’s budget.

The Edinburgh Labour MSP said: “Never mind the spin and promises, the numbers speak for themselves – SNP incompetence has cost Edinburgh £82,411,987  in delayed discharge alone.

“For years the SNP promised to end this dangerous and costly practice and for years they have failed.

“It is simply unacceptable to have patients left needlessly stranded in hospital and the public purse drained due to poor provision of care for those leaving hospital.  

“Things will only get worse if the SNP fail to deal with the crisis in our social care system.

“This makes the SNP’s failure to give carers a fair deal in this budget all the more damaging.

“Ending this costly and dangerous practice must be top of Humza Yousaf’s priority list as we enter the new year.

“This means properly funding social care in Edinburgh and giving staff the real pay rise they so badly deserve.”

Delayed discharge 2016-17 to 2020-21:

Local authority of residenceTotal Bed Days lostTotal Costs
Scotland2,448,948£623,641,618
Aberdeen City77,922£19,421,606
Aberdeenshire74,507£18,812,235
Angus29,759£7,593,790
Argyll & Bute37,964£9,687,010
City of Edinburgh325,736£82,411,987
Clackmannanshire16,149£4,155,811
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar32,742£8,267,394
Dumfries & Galloway69,290£17,710,667
Dundee City52,217£13,206,196
East Ayrshire23,196£5,889,582
East Dunbartonshire21,952£5,675,305
East Lothian41,985£10,469,017
East Renfrewshire10,978£2,805,220
Falkirk87,703£22,374,280
Fife171,809£43,936,581
Glasgow City202,643£52,290,504
Highland187,903£47,838,848
Inverclyde8,444£2,139,961
Midlothian52,311£13,330,822
Moray55,017£13,953,009
North Ayrshire78,324£20,076,967
North Lanarkshire179,598£45,912,014
Orkney6,365£1,627,198
Other2,427£612,271
Perth & Kinross68,060£17,087,463
Renfrewshire31,950£8,342,877
Scottish Borders59,496£15,215,448
Shetland6,017£1,523,845
South Ayrshire100,431£25,776,248
South Lanarkshire194,721£49,369,081
Stirling36,757£9,374,287
West Dunbartonshire26,849£6,997,222
West Lothian77,726£19,756,872

Source: https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/delayed-discharges-in-nhsscotland-annual/delayed-discharges-in-nhsscotland-annual-annual-summary-of-occupied-bed-days-and-census-figures-data-to-march-2021-planned-revision/

Emergency care crisis deepens

The latest Urgent and Emergency Care Daily Situation Reports 2021-22 for week ending 2 January 2022 show:

  • There was a total of 562,062 instances of staff absences
  • 249,173 instances of staff absences were covid related, an increase of 41% on the previous week
  • Nearly half of instances of staff absences were covid related
  • Since the start of December there has been an increase of 198% in covid-related instances of absence
  • On average 16,906 patients resided in hospital who no longer fit the criteria and were ready to be discharged, of these, on average, 9,858 remained in hospital
  • This is equal to almost six in 10 patients who were ready to be discharged remaining in hospital
  • Nearly one quarter of ambulance arrivals were delayed by 30 minutes or more
  • Almost one in 10 ambulance arrivals were delayed by at least an hour

Dr Katherine Henderson, President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said: “The scale of the pressures facing the health service is highlighted in these figures. Instances of covid-related absence have tripled since the beginning of December. Now the army has been deployed to assist the health service in London.

“Ambulances continue to be delayed in handing over patients on arrival putting patient safety at risk, while high numbers of patients ready to be discharged remain in hospital due to the ongoing social care crisis.

“Promoting flow through the hospital is vital but rests upon timely discharge of patients back home once their treatment is complete. To ensure this social care must be resourced and supported, this will help reduce admissions and free up beds in hospital.

“It is a perilous situation, and an enormous strain is put upon staff working in hospitals, who continue, as ever, to go above and beyond to ensure care continues to be delivered and patients are kept safe.”

Delayed Discharge in NHS Lothian returns to pre Covid-19 levels

The number of days that patients who have been delayed from leaving hospital because of no appropriate place to go to has risen to 7,829 for July 2021, the latest month statistics are available for.

This is an increase of 2,004 from 5,825 delays throughout June and triple the number of bed days occupied from delayed discharge at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic when 2,531 delays occurred.

At the start of the Covid-19 pandemic SNP Ministers made the decision to move hospital patients into care homes, to free up hospital space for dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic. It later emerged that patients being moved from hospitals to care homes where not tested for Covid-19 leading to higher rates of Covid-19 deaths in care homes than anywhere else in Scotland.

The level of delayed discharge in NHS Lothian has now returned to pre- pandemic levels with the number of bed days in hospital for delayed discharge being 11 higher than March 2020, 7,278, when hospital patients where moved to care homes.

Edinburgh and the Lothians were in the process of recovering from a Social Care crisis before the pandemic hit, with the peak of delayed discharge in hospitals being in October 2018, when 11,855 combined days when patients were not able to leave hospital, despite being back to health.

Lothian MSP, Miles Briggs, said: “These figures are very concerning, with the number of patients being stuck in hospital without a suitable destination, returning to pre pandemic levels.

“In Edinburgh and the Lothians there has been a long standing challenge to provide social care, which started to shift towards care in the community.

“We are now seeing increasing numbers of patients not able to leave hospital and the Edinburgh Integrated Joint Board are planning on closing more care homes.

“Patients leaving hospital must have a suitable destination to go once recovered, so that we are not in a position where people are waiting days on end in hospital, when they don’t need to be there.”

Half a million lost bed days are symptom of poor care integration, says disability charity

‘in many areas of Scotland, the integration of health and social care is happening in name only’

The loss of over half a million bed days in Scotland’s hospitals over the past year is a symptom of the failure to integrate health and social care, according to the disability charity Leonard Cheshire in Scotland.

Figures published by ISD Scotland show that a total of 542,204 bed days in 2019/20 were occupied by people delayed in their discharge from Scotland’s hospitals.

This represents a 4% rise in the number of bed days lost due to delayed discharges between 2018/19 and 2019/20. A daily average of 1,481 beds were occupied by people delayed in their discharge over the past year.

A delayed discharge occurs when a person, clinically ready for discharge, cannot leave hospital because the necessary care, support or accommodation required is not readily accessible or funding is not available, for example to purchase a care home place.

The main reasons for patients being delayed in their discharge in 2019/20 were awaiting completion of care arrangements (35%), awaiting place availability (23%) and awaiting community care assessment (17%).

ISD Scotland estimates that in 2017/18 alone, the cost of delayed discharges in NHS Scotland was £122 million – with an estimated average bed day cost of £248.

Reacting to the figures, Leonard Cheshire in Scotland’s Director Stuart Robertson said: “These figures demonstrate that in many areas of Scotland, the integration of health and social care is happening in name only.

“More than half a million bed days have been lost over the past year in Scotland’s hospitals due to delayed discharges and it’s time the Scottish Government finally tackle this issue. Over half of patients who experienced a delayed discharge have been impacted by a lack of care arrangements, availability and assessments.

“Delayed discharges are costing the Scottish Government over a hundred million pounds every year and are badly letting down disabled people and those receiving health and social care.

“Investment on the frontline is urgently required if we are to end delayed discharges and create a person-centred health and social care system that truly meets the needs of the Scottish people.”

Briggs: blame Scottish Government for delayed discharge crisis

Extent of the impact social care crisis is having on delayed discharge in Lothian revealed

Latest figures for delayed discharge, from the Delayed Discharge NHS Scotland (Annual Release) show the extent of the challenge facing Integration Joint Boards in Lothian. Continue reading Briggs: blame Scottish Government for delayed discharge crisis

Briggs: Critical Care delayed discharges at the Western General remain highest in Scotland

This week’s Audit of Critical Care in Scotland report has revealed that the critical care unit at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh has significantly higher delayed discharge rates than the rest of Scotland. Continue reading Briggs: Critical Care delayed discharges at the Western General remain highest in Scotland

Health and social care: An improving picture but more needs to be done, says EIJB Chair

The length of time people are waiting for care assessments in the Capital has fallen by almost 50% under the Edinburgh Integration Joint Board (EIJB), (writes its Chair, Councillor Ricky Henderson). Continue reading Health and social care: An improving picture but more needs to be done, says EIJB Chair

Delayed discharges up: Greens urge social care staff boost

Scottish Ministers are being urged by the Scottish Greens to “fast-track action” on social care staffing, as new figures show a further rise in patients stuck in hospital – the vast majority of them waiting for social care. [1]

Continue reading Delayed discharges up: Greens urge social care staff boost

Delayed Discharges: Green MSP Concerned At Lothian Levels

Alison Johnstone, Health spokesperson for the Scottish Greens and MSP for Lothian, has expressed concern at the high level of delayed discharges – people stuck in hospital beds awaiting social care. Continue reading Delayed Discharges: Green MSP Concerned At Lothian Levels