Wednesday September 23rd 2015
Alison Johnstone MSP, the Scottish Greens’ health spokesperson, has urged the Scottish Government to do more to provide care home places and care-at-home packages as figures show 44 per cent of delayed discharges from hospitals are due to patients waiting for places in care homes.
The NHS figures also show:
-37 per cent of patients are waiting to go home.
-In July 2015, there were 47,797 days spent in hospital associated with delays in discharge; a 5 per cent increase on the previous month.
Alison Johnstone, Scottish Green MSP for Lothian, said:
“It’s astonishing that almost half of those delayed are waiting for a place in a care home, with a further significant proportion waiting to go home. It’s clear that more needs to be done to care for our increasingly complex health needs. Behind these figures are distressing and frustrating situations particularly affecting older people and their families.
“We need to see the Scottish Government, NHS Boards and local authorities picking up the pace to provide more care packages. And we need to do more to prepare and support people as they move from hospital to social care, to ensure their health doesn’t suffer a setback.”
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