Annual delayed discharge figures have revealed the scale of Dumfries and Galloway’s ‘care crisis’, according to South Scotland Labour MSP Colin Smyth.

A delayed discharge occurs when a patient, is deemed to be clinically ready for discharge, but cannot leave hospital because the other necessary care, such as home care or a care home place, is not available, often due to a lack of carers. As a result, the patient is forced to stay in hospital often meaning other patients care is cancelled due to a lack of beds.

Despite the Scottish Government promising in February 2015 to eradicate delayed discharge, many thousands of bed days are still being lost to delayed discharge.

In Dumfries and Galloway, the annual figures have increased from 21,714 in 2021/22 to 35,692 in 2022/23, a change of 64 per cent.

Colin Smyth has said that this is symbolic of the Scottish Government’s failure to pay home carers a proper wage. The local MSP has been campaigning for a minimum wage of £15 for care workers, with an immediate rise to £12 per hour from the current pay of less than £11 per hour in most case.

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.”