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

When comparing June 2023 with July 2024, the figures in Dumfries and Galloway have decreased slightly (down by 6.6 per cent), however the figures are still a massive 59 per cent higher than pre-pandemic (July 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: “Delayed discharge figures are still a big concern in Dumfries and Galloway.

“Month after month we get these statistics and while we have seen a slight improvement in our region this time compared to 2023, they still aren’t good enough.

“For the thousands of people stuck in hospital, and their families, the situation is dire.

“Years before Covid, the Scottish Government had vowed to eradicate delayed discharge but instead we are in a situation where we have more and more people remaining in hospital when they are fit to be discharged. This is not only piling pressure on our hospitals but threatening patients’ recovery.

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

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

“We need long term investment, including tackling the woeful low level of sheltered housing locally, but the Government could start by paying care workers a fair wage, which would help with the recruitment crisis.”