EDWARD MOUNTAIN: Delayed discharge in the Highlands is almost three times worse than nationally
Despite those years of hot air and false promises, the problem hit its worst level in the Highlands in August, and shows no signs of improvement.
Analysis reveals that 6,646 bed days were occupied as a result of so-called “bed blocking”, the worst on record.
Since 2017/18, an incredible 352,000 bed days have been taken up in this local authority area.
In simple terms, every one of those cases represents a bed which could have been used for the many people in the Highlands who routinely fail to receive the care they deserve.
Delayed discharge – where someone is physically fit to be discharged from hospital but has nowhere to go – is a nightmare for everyone concerned.
It can be the most miserable of all outcomes for the patient involved, who just wants to get on with their life.
It’s also heart-rending for families, and makes life unnecessarily difficult for hard-pressed nurses and hospital managers.
Usually, a lack of social care packages or care home spaces are the reasons for someone not being able to leave hospital, despite being fit to do so.
It’s an occurrence all over the country but in the Highlands the problem is almost three times worse than the national average, and the local authority area currently has the highest level of all 32 councils.
At First Minister’s Questions last week, John Swinney seemed to claim his ridiculous plans for a National Care Service would cure these ills.
He wasn’t able to say how or why, and only succeeded in highlighting the postcode lottery which exists on delayed discharge in Scotland, a puzzle which leaves patients in this part of the world worse off than anywhere else.
The policy is little more than a vanity project.
It’s a classic example of this government thinking something presentational will turn into something practical – but the record of failure is clear.
Delayed discharge may not have the headline-appeal of other nationalist failures like the ferry crisis, the refusal to dual the A9 and the drugs death catastrophe.
But as this research proves, it affects many, many lives.
If 2024/25 continues on trend, we will have lost nearly 75,000 bed days by the year’s end.
That would be 10,000 more than last year, which itself was a record.
As every patient and health worker will tell you, what’s missing is resource.
The National Care Service talking shop won’t change a single life, other than for those who find lucrative employment with another gluttonous and unproductive quango.
As a matter of urgency, the Scottish Government needs to find more money to properly resource councils to step up when it comes to social care.
And it needs to be more imaginative in attracting those private firms willing to build and successfully run care homes.
Earlier this year I visited the Parklands care home project on the outskirts of Inverness. When it opens, it will provide 58 high quality spaces for elderly people.
That’s exactly the kind of project this Scottish Government should be getting behind.
If it won’t solve the delayed discharge crisis on its own, it should at least roll out the red carpet for those who can.
