Ministers are under pressure to tackle the crisis in social care, after analysis revealed up to a third of beds in some hospitals are taken up by patients medically fit to leave.
An average of 13,622 patients were stuck on wards across England in February, according to analysis by the House of Commons Library. This meant one in seven hospital beds, or 13 percent, were taken up.
Croydon, South London, was worst affected with a third of all beds “blocked” by patients who no longer needed hospital treatment.
This was followed by Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS trust, where 29 percent of available beds taken up by patients well enough to be discharged.
Then came the Isle of Wight (28 percent) North Bristol (26 percent) and Warrington and Halton (25 percent).
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Regionally, the South West saw the most delays, with 17 percent of beds occupied by patients fit to leave, followed closely by the South East at 16.5 percent.
Just nine percent of beds taken up by delayed discharges in the East of England – the lowest rate in the country.
Delayed discharges are often caused by a lack of adequate social care and community support for patients.
The Liberal Democrats, who commissioned the research, have called for policies to tackle this including a Carer’s Minimum Wage, set at £2 above the minimum wage.
Lib Dem Leader Ed Davey said the social care crisis was “turning into a national emergency”.
He added: “Thousands of people are being left stranded in hospitals every day waiting for the care they need, while the NHS buckles under the strain.
“Elderly relatives stuck alone in overcrowded hospital wards, when they could be being cared for at home or with their families if the right support was there.
“There is a deafening silence from Rishi Sunak and his government about what they will do to fix the mess they have made.”
Estimates suggest each night a patient spends in hospital when they could be discharged costs the NHS £395. The King’s Fund think tank estimated the direct cost in 2022/23 stood at £1.9 billion.
Patricia Marquis, executive director of the Royal College of Nursing in England, said delays were adding to pressure on hospitals and leading to patients being treated in “corridors, doorways and store cupboards”.
She added: “Nobody should stay in hospital longer than they need to, but every day thousands remain on wards simply because the NHS can’t discharge them to where they can receive more appropriate care.
“Politicians on all sides need to show they understand you can’t disentangle the NHS from social care.
“In this election year, any party wanting to gain the trust of the public needs to show they have plans to resolve the crisis in social care. This must include funding for pay to attract and retain the trained nursing staff patients need.”
Sir Julian Hartley, chief executive of NHS Providers, said: “The knock-on effects on people, accident and emergency departments and ambulances waiting to hand over patients are huge.
“Long overdue reform and adequate, sustainable funding of social care is needed urgently if we are to address the worrying number of delayed discharges.”
Alex Baylis, assistant director of policy at The King’s Fund, said lack of access to social care was not the only cause of delayed discharges.
He added: “These problems have been around for many years and urgently need fixing.
“There is a history of different organisations blaming the others, but it’s essential that local services – across hospitals, community nursing and therapies, GPs, residential care, carers in people’s own homes and community organisations – all work together to reduce delays to people leaving hospital.
“The causes of delays are often very specific to each area, but many areas still don’t have a shared, in-depth understanding of what’s needed for their specific local issues and an agree plan to address them.
“Without this extra funding or re-designing discharge procedures could just be sticking plasters.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We’re taking action to ensure the health and care system works closely together to tackle delayed discharge, including investing an additional £1 billion this year to support the NHS and local authorities to ensure timely and effective discharge from hospital.
“The government has now made available up to £8.6 billion in additional funding over financial years 2023-24 and 2024-25 to strengthen adult social care provision and discharge.”
