Scotland’s Health Secretary insists work is being taken to “understand the challenges” behind Dumfries and Galloway’s delayed discharge problem.
Nearly 200,000 bed days have been lost to the issue – when someone is in hospital despite being deemed medically well enough to leave, often because the correct care package isn’t in place – across the last decade.
That led South Scotland Labour MSP Colin Smyth to ask Health Secretary Neil Gray when he last discussed the matter with NHS Dumfries and Galloway.
Mr Gray said: “The collaborative response and assurance group that I chair jointly with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities has met weekly with leaders from across the health and social care system, including from Dumfries and Galloway, since last June.
“Our most recent meeting was on Monday. We have been working to understand the challenges faced by areas with high levels of delay, including Dumfries and Galloway, and to support them to deliver the changes that will improve people’s journey from hospital to home or the care setting that is right for them.
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“Our planned budget for 2025-26 will invest a further £200million to reduce waiting list backlogs, improve capacity and remove the barriers that keep some patients in hospital longer than is necessary.”
The latest Public Health Scotland figures revealed that in November, an average of 92 people were in the region’s hospitals each day due to delayed discharge – the highest regional figure since June.
Mr Smyth claims the problem has cost NHS Dumfries and Galloway more than £54million since 2015.
He added: “Every month Public Health Scotland releases delayed discharge numbers and while we saw some improvement in the figures in Dumfries and Galloway recently, the last monthly statistics showed another rise.
“Our amazing NHS is stretched to breaking point and they are facing an impossible situation with delayed discharge.
“What we need is long term investment, including tackling the woeful low level of sheltered housing locally, and start paying care workers a fair wage, which would help with the recruitment crisis the sector pays.
“We also need to drive up the standards of care, because too often people receive just the very basic support, which often isn’t enough.”