Patients have spent an extra 4.6 million days in hospital over nearly a decade due to ‘bed blocking’.
Figures stretching back to 2016/17 show the huge number of beds taken up by patients who are medically ready to be discharged.
SNP ministers have previously promised to abolish bed blocking, also known as delayed discharge, which often occurs because no care home beds are available or care packages have been finalised to allow patients to be released.
The number of cases of bed blocking already looks on course to soar to another record high during the current year, 2024/25.
Since Public Health Scotland (PHS) began producing figures in July 2016, there have been a combined total of 4,606,266 ‘bed days’ lost to delayed discharge.
Alastair Cameron, chairman of the Scotland in Union campaign group, said: ‘The Scottish Government has made repeated pledges to tackle delayed discharge, but things are only getting worse.
‘Everyone knows it has long been a problem for Scotland’s NHS, and people will be shocked to see the sheer scale of it.
‘It’s appalling that millions of bed days have been taken up while patients wait on hospital trolleys and others struggle to get an appointment at all.
There have been a combined total of 4,606,266 ‘bed days’ lost to delayed discharge since July 2016
John Swinney made promises over bed blocking
‘This is the consequence of a nationalist government being more worried about its narrow constitutional agenda than about fixing the things which matter to Scots today.’
In 2015, the then SNP Health Secretary Shona Robison pledged to eradicate delayed discharge by the end of the year.
The PHS data showed that 399,315 bed days were lost to delayed discharge in 2016/17 and this figure then increased every year until 2020/21, when it fell back to 358,426.
Bed days lost to delayed discharge then increased annually to 540,302 in 2021/22, 661,705 in 2022/23 and 666,190 in 2023/24.
The figures for 2024/25 had already hit 422,229 by October this year, meaning it is currently on course to be another record high.
Shortly after he became First Minister earlier this year, John Swinney pledged to prioritise efforts to ‘deliver sustainable social care by reducing delayed discharge’.
Alastair Cameron, chairman of the Scotland in Union campaign
When he unveiled his programme for government in September, Mr Swinney also promised to ‘intensify our work to tackle delayed discharge’.
He said: ‘No one should remain in hospital any longer than they need to.
‘So we will standardise best practice and an integrated approach, from the time a person enters hospital through to their timely discharge.
‘This will ensure everyone can recover in the best, least intensive setting for them, whilst also making room in hospital for those who need it.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘Most people are able to leave hospital with no delays – currently over 96 per cent of all hospital discharges happen without delay – but reducing delayed discharges further is a priority for the Scottish Government.
‘Our Budget for 2025-26 will invest £200 million to reduce waiting list backlogs, improve capacity and remove barriers which keep some patients in hospital longer than necessary.
‘We also want to expand Hospital at Home to treat 150,000 more patients, deliver additional support for GPs and invest in new hospitals at Belford and Monklands.
‘Our Budget will unlock investment to drive long-term and lasting improvements – and the healthier population that we all want to see.
‘The NHS needs Parliament to unite behind this Budget.’
