Figures released by Public Health Scotland on Tuesday show delayed discharge numbers are continuing to improve in Dumfries and Galloway but are still a concern, according to Colin Smyth MSP.

When comparing February 2023 with February 2024, the figures in Dumfries and Galloway dropped by five per cent but are still are a massive 70 per cent higher than pre-pandemic (February 2019).

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 or there is a lack of places in care homes or sheltered housing.

Across the region thousands of hours of assessed care is not being provided in homes because of a lack of carers.

Colin Smyth said: “It’s positive news that the monthly delayed discharge figures in Dumfries and Galloway are slightly below the same time last year but the level remains far too high and still 70% higher than five years ago.

“Delayed discharge means people are stuck in hospital because there is a no care available to allow them to go home and as a result, hospital beds are full. That’s bad news for patients and costs the NHS a fortune.

“Years before Covid, the Scottish Government had vowed to eradicate delayed discharge but this has not happened.

“Our social care system is crying out for help – our amazing local NHS and carers are working as hard as they can to get people out of hospital and support them at home, but they can’t work miracles.

“Patients and workers across our health and social care system are being failed and we urgently need to better support social care services.

“We need long term investment, including tackling the woeful low level of sheltered and supported housing locally, but the Government could start by backing Labour’s plans to pay care workers £15 per hour which would help with the recruitment crisis and actually save the NHS money in the long term.”