Hundreds of thousands of patients being readmitted to hospital

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has today warned of the stress and anxiety to patients from going in and out of hospital as he revealed that over the past five years, almost half a million patients have been re-admitted to hospitals after being discharged.

Figures uncovered by Scottish Liberal Democrats through freedom of information requests reveal that 472,005 patients were readmitted within 30 days since 2018. This figure will under-represent the true numbers as NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde did not respond to the party’s requests.

The health board which readmitted the most patients was NHS Lothian with 96,470, followed by Highland (74,174) and Lanarkshire (70,637).

Mr Cole-Hamilton said:

“These figures show that vast numbers of patients are re-admitted to hospital just days after being discharged.

“In many cases, these discharged patients will be totally fine to go home and then return for scheduled follow-up treatment.

“However, for others, this will be because key diagnostic tests are unavailable.

“Going in and out of hospital can be stressful, time-consuming and disruptive.

“The Scottish Government must work with health boards to ensure that the flow of patients through hospitals is maximised and that everyone can get the prompt treatment that they require.”