Bed Money After Good

Delays in sending patients home costs the NHS £142m in one year

- Vivienne Aitken

BED blocking in Scotland cost the public purse £142million in the last year, with 358,428 bed days lost.

Of the hundreds of thousands whose discharge was delayed, 63 per cent were aged 75 and over.

And the number of bed days lost to delayed discharge represents one in 14 in NHS Scotland.

Public Health Scotland estimates the cost of the delayed discharges last year was £142million, with the estimated average daily bed costing £262.

A delayed discharge occurs when a patient who is clinically ready to leave hospital care continues to occupy a bed beyond the date they are ready to go.

The delay is often caused by a lack of social care provision for an elderly person waiting to be discharged.