A patient has spent more than two-and-a-half years in a Dumfries and Galloway hospital despite being clinically well enough to leave.
And other patients are spending more than two months in hospital unnecessarily as a result of delayed discharges.
The “totally unacceptable” situation was revealed by Galloway and West Dumfries MSP Finlay Carson.
The Tory representative said: “These waits not only have a huge impact on the patients involved, they also have devastating knock-on effects for other patients in my constituency.
“Despite the best efforts of dedicated staff, more and more patients will suffer longer waits at A&E or see operations cancelled at the last minute because beds simply are not available.
“The figures must be an urgent wake-up call for SNP Health Secretary Neil Gray to finally get a grip of this crisis. This is exactly where investment in the NHS should be going, rather than being wasted on pointless bureaucracy and pen-pushing.”
The data was revealed following a series of freedom of information requests by the Scottish Conservatives.
They found that one person had spent 916 days in hospital as a result of delayed discharge – which is when someone is in hospital despite being deemed medically well enough to leave, often because the correct care package isn’t in place.
The average delay was 77 days – more than two months.
In 2015, Scotland’s then Health Secretary Shona Robison vowed to make delayed discharge a thing of the past.
Mr Carson added: “Far too many patients are stuck for far too long in hospitals in NHS Dumfries and Galloway on the SNP’s watch.
“Almost a decade has passed since the SNP promised to eradicate delayed discharge from Scotland’s hospitals, but these figures fly in the face of that.
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“It should be a source of shame for SNP ministers that one patient waited an astonishing 916 days to leave hospital despite being deemed fit to go home, and that on average patients are waiting weeks, if not months, to be discharged.”
An NHS Dumfries and Galloway spokesman said: “As ever, NHS Dumfries and Galloway cannot comment on individual cases because of patient confidentiality.
“Within the health and social care partnership, a great deal of work has been taking place to ensure that people who no longer have a medical need to be in hospital are able to be discharged home or to a homely setting safely, and as promptly as possible.
“The NHS works closely with local authority colleagues within social work and housing, and with those in other agencies, to support safe and prompt discharge.
“Initiatives which have been developed to support safe and prompt discharge include discharge without delay and also discharge to assess.
“Dumfries and Galloway Health and Social Care Partnership is very grateful to staff for successfully implementing new initiatives and ways of working, and also the unpaid carers who provide support to people following their discharge from hospital.
“Anyone with a concern or complaint is encouraged to contact the patient experience team in the first instance by phoning 01387 272 733 or by emailing [email protected].”
A Scottish Government spokesman added: “While we cannot comment on individual patients, there are some highly complex cases – including mental health patients or hospital-based complex clinical care patients – where unfortunately it is extremely difficult to find an appropriate care package.
“We have seen a reduction in delayed discharge in many councils in recent months and are working closely with all councils to review performance and escalate where we are not seeing necessary improvements in delayed discharge.”