Pressure on the region’s NHS caused by delays in discharging patients from hospital has “spiralled”.
New figures show 1,986 days were lost to so-called bed-blocking up until December – a rise of 906 on the previous year.
The 83 per cent hike has been described by South Scotland MSP Colin Smyth as “the last thing our struggling health service needs”.
Mr Smyth has called for the issue to be “tackled once and for all”.
He claimed the figures released by Public Health Scotland show “pure negligence” by the Scottish Government.
Mr Smyth added: “Delayed discharge has been a chronic issue across the south of Scotland for years, but Covid has made things much worse.
“These spiralling rates of delayed discharge are the last thing our struggling health service needs.
“This mounting crisis will damage patients’ recovery and drain precious funds from our NHS at the worst possible time.
“It is pure negligence that has let this spiral out of control again over the last year.
“The SNP must get a grip and invest in social care so that people can get the support they need and the NHS can focus on treating people.
“They should start by using this year’s budget to back Labour’s plans to pay staff a fair wage of £12 an hour, rising to £15.
“Delayed discharge should be left in the past and I am calling on the Scottish Government to promise that delayed discharge be eradicated once and for all.”
Delayed discharge is when a patient is medically cleared to go home but cannot leave hospital, often because a social care package is not in place.
Last month, it was revealed that a patient spent more than 600 days in one of the region’s hospitals despite being given the all-clear to go home due to delayed discharge.
And more than 100 patients spent more than three weeks in hospital last year despite being deemed well enough to leave.
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “The last few months have seen extreme pressures across the whole health and social care system and this has seen more people coming through hospitals who need high levels of care and support to go home.
“We are working alongside our health boards and local partners with urgency and pace to safely discharge people to their own homes, or to an appropriate care home or community setting.”
