Delayed discharges have wasted more than the equivalent of 21 years of bed use in Dundee in less than 12 months, a damning new report shows.
Shocking figures also show bed-blocking will result in an estimated £400,000 overspend of the city’s health budget, as external care providers are brought in to cover an extra 1,000 hours of social care per week.
Just 13% of Dundee patients who had a delayed discharge left hospital in fewer than 72 hours of being ready in July and August of this year, according to the report.
A total of 7,881 bed days were used up by standard delayed discharges between October 2015 and August 2016.
An additional 6,310 days were wasted because of code nine delayed discharges, which relate to patients who face a complexity of circumstances.
Labour councillor Richard McCready said the problem needed to be resolved.
“We need to deal with delayed discharges as it has a huge knock on effect on all parts of the health and social care workforce.
“We need to make sure people are being cared for in the appropriate setting and nobody is being kept in hospital who isn’t needing to be in hospital.
“It is clear that there are huge problems here and we need to look at this.
“My view is that its unfortunate it is the partnership it is being discussed at. This is something the full council should be made aware of.”
Dundee City Council is represented by three elected members, all of whom belong to the SNP administration. None could be reached for comment.
Mr McCready added: “I hope the three representatives ask an extensive range of questions about this and make clear that they are unhappy about it.”
Care home availability and delays in funding being put in place are cited as some of the reasons behind the delays.
The partnership report lists people awaiting funding or place availability in a care home as some of the main reasons for delay.
The damning report, which will be discussed at a meeting of the Dundee health and social care integration joint board highlights a growing problem for city health chiefs.
Extra measures are expected to be taken during financial planning for 2017/18 as a result of the pressures, as the partnership admits it has become unsustainable to mitigate the overspend by borrowing money from other budget areas.
A review into the delays has already been launched, with the outcome expected to be discussed at the next quarterly discharge management update.
A spokesperson for Dundee Health and Social Care Partnership said: “As a partnership we aim to ensure that citizens of Dundee are supported at home, and when people do have to go to hospital they are only there as long as they need to be.
“Our progress towards meeting this ambition is overseen by a home and hospital transition strategic planning group and articulated through a home and hospital transition plan.
“The majority of delayed patients who are spending more than 72 hours in hospital are mainly due to awaiting place availability in a care home or where people have more complex circumstances.
“Over the last period we have seen a reduction in the number of available care home places within Dundee. In response, we are further developing options to support discharges.
“As a health and social care partnership, resources can be applied flexibly from within the overall budget to meet this increase in activity and our aim to shift the balance of care continues to be reflected in our financial planning process.”
