Delayed discharge at an all-time high

Responding to new statistics showing that the total annual days spent in hospital is at an all-time high, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader and health spokesperson Alex-Cole Hamilton MSP has today slammed the government for remaining “hellbent on prioritising constitutional questions” as the crisis within health and social care worsens.

The published figures show:

• In the financial year 2022/23, the number of days spent in delayed discharge totalled 661,705 which is the highest annual figure on record.
• The number of people who were discharged after delay was 18,157 – an increase from the 2021/22 figure of 17,184.
• The average number of days people spent in delay in 2022/23 is now higher than it was pre-pandemic. In 2019/20, the average number of days was 7, which represents a 57% increase.

In 2015, the SNP government promised to “eradicate delayed discharges from the system” within a year.

Mr Cole-Hamilton commented:

“It is clear to anyone that there is a systemic crisis within our health and social care system.

“It seems, however, that the SNP are turning a blind eye, remaining hellbent on prioritising constitutional questions rather than what really matters- tackling the problems within our health and social care.

“In doing so, the Scottish Government is failing our NHS. Patients and staff alike deserve so much better. Ministers must now listen to them, scrap the planned bureaucratic ministerial takeover of social care and urgently invest more money into staff and resources to alleviate this crisis.”