Tackling delayed discharge is a ‘priority’, says Health Secretary

Health Secretary Neil Gray has insisted cutting delayed discharge is a “priority” for the Scottish Government, as new figures showed a rise in days spent in hospital by those well enough to leave.

Official figures showed that in November alone patients whose discharge had been delayed spent an additional 60,696 days in hospital – with this 7% higher than the same month in 2023.

Public Health Scotland data found that in November 2024 there were 2,020 people whose discharge was delayed – with many of them likely to have been waiting for care arrangements to be made.

While this is down slightly from October – when it was 2,030 – it was higher than both the August and September totals, which were 2,009 and 1,951 respectively.

Patients whose discharge had been delayed occupied an average of 2,023 hospital beds each day in November, with this again down slightly from October, but higher than it was in both August and September.

Commenting on the figures, Mr Gray stressed that “reducing delayed discharge is a priority for this government” and that the Scottish Government’s budget for next year would if passed “provide £200 million to help clear waiting list backlogs, improve capacity and remove blockages that keep some patients in hospital longer than necessary”.

The Health Secretary added: “Whilst we have seen a reduction in delayed discharge in many councils over the recent months, we are still not seeing this across the whole of Scotland.

“That’s why we are working closely with all local councils to review performance and escalate where we are not seeing the necessary improvements in delayed discharge.”

The SNP government once promised to end delayed discharge but instead it has created traffic jams in our hospitals

But Tory health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane claimed that the “shameful increases” in delayed discharge “lay bare the SNP’s shocking neglect of our patients who have been left languishing in hospital beds longer and longer under this Nationalist government”.

Commenting on the “sharp rise” in days spent in hospital by those patients who had seen their discharge delayed, Dr Gulhane said this has “a ripple effect in creating backlogs right across our health service, including in A&E”.

He insisted: “SNP ministers must urgently commit to investing money in the right areas of our NHS to ease the burden on patients and staff.”

Meanwhile, Labour health spokesperson Jackie Baillie said: “The SNP government once promised to end delayed discharge but instead it has created traffic jams in our hospitals.

“Thousands of patients are stuck in hospital limbo, while thousands more are waiting in hospital corridors because they can’t get a bed.”

And Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton stated: “SNP mismanagement has led to eye-watering numbers of people stuck in hospital unnecessarily because they can’t get the care they need at home or in the community.

“This creates a backlog right across our NHS, contributing to agonising waits in A&E and ambulances stacking up outside the front door. It goes to show that you can’t save our NHS unless you fix the care crisis.”