Delayed discharge hit record levels in Dumfries and Galloway last year.
New figures show that more than 35,000 bed days were lost to the problem in 2022/23 – more than a third up on the previous year.
Delayed discharge – also known as bed blocking – is when a patient is medically cleared to go home but can’t leave hospital for various reasons, such as no care package being in place.
South Scotland Labour MSP, Colin Smyth, said: “Years on from the SNP promising to end the deadly and costly practice of delayed discharge, the problem is getting worse and has turned into a care crisis.
“Local hospitals are full of patients who shouldn’t be there but they can’t go home because of a lack of home carers or a no suitable accommodation such as sheltered housing and residential care home spaces.
“The figures for Dumfries and Galloway show a huge 64 per cent increase compared to the previous year- the biggest rise in south Scotland.
“We cannot have patients left in hospital unnecessarily and the public purse drained due to poor provision of care for those leaving hospital. This problem has been building for years, yet there has been little action to properly resolve it.
“It’s time we started paying our carers properly so we can tackle the recruitment crisis we face and seriously address the woeful level of care home and sheltered housing provision locally.
“There has been little investment in new sheltered housing in the region and we have actually seen a cut in the number of care homes, so it is little wonder Dumfries and Galloway is facing this delayed discharge crisis.”
Last year, patients who were medically well enough to leave spent 661,705 days in Scotland’s hospitals – the highest figure ever recorded.
NHS Dumfries and Galloway’s share was 35,692, up from the previous year’s figure of 21,714.
On average, 98 beds each day were lost to the problem – up from 59 the previous year. The number of patients who experienced a delay rose from 363 to 614.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Emerging evidence shows that people are going into hospital with less mobility, likely due to the impact of the pandemic.
“However, it is critical that those clinically fit for discharge do not remain in hospital for longer than is necessary so that people are cared for in the right setting and that vital hospital beds are there for those who need them. Over this past year, the government has worked tirelessly to support the system deal with these pressures.”
