This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Latest statistics on delayed discharge from hospitals
30/06/2005
The latest quarterly statistics on delayed discharge
from hospitals across Scotland show nearly a 30 per cent
drop on the previous quarter.
Deputy Health Minister Lewis Macdonald said this was
'remarkable progress'. He praised local authorities and NHS
partnerships for working together to reduce the number of
older people waiting in hospital for appropriate care
settings to be found.
Quarterly delayed discharge figures for April 2005 show
a 29.8 per cent decrease from January 2005 in the number of
patients delayed for more than six weeks, and a 28.6 per
cent drop compared to the same time last year.
Numbers delayed for more than six weeks have been cut by
almost two-thirds since the launch of the Delayed Discharge
Action Plan in March 2002. The number of patients delayed
for more than 12 months has been reduced by around 90 per
cent in the same period.
The total number of people waiting to be discharged from
hospital fell by 18.1 per cent since April 2004.
Lewis Macdonald said:
"Today's figures show a remarkable achievement by local
authorities and NHS partnerships who have been working
together to tackle delayed discharge. I am encouraged to
see that more older people than ever before are moving out
of hospital more quickly to find appropriate care
settings.
"The figures are at their lowest level since recording
began in September 2000. I want this trend to continue with
numbers coming down and delays getting shorter.
"Too many of our older people are still waiting far too
long in hospital until appropriate care for them can be
found and this must be tackled on all fronts. But there
has been excellent progress by local authorities and NHS
partnerships to meet the national targets set for April
2005 on delayed discharge.
"They have narrowly missed the target of a total 20 per
cent reduction in the number of patients ready for
discharge. Partnerships have quite rightly concentrated on
tackling the longest waits and the target for reducing the
number of patients delayed for over six weeks has been
exceeded with an annual 28.6 per cent decrease.
"Tackling the longest waits is our top priority and this
has been achieved.
Through improved joint working and tremendous effort,
local authorities and NHS partnerships have delivered
figures that they should be proud of.
"The few Partnerships that are still having trouble
tackling delayed discharge, must concentrate on ways to
improve this straight away. I expect those Partherships
that have failed to meet their targets to make up lost
ground.
"We will continue to work in close partnership with the
NHS and local authorities to ensure improvements are made
on delayed discharge across the country."
A definition of 'ready for discharge' is an in-patient
whose move onto the next stage of care is delayed for
non-clinical reasons.
670,000 in-patients are discharged each year from
hospital in Scotland. On the April census date, 1,430
patients were ready for discharge in Scotland but unable to
do so for a variety of reasons.
Here are the findings of the April 2005 quarterly
statistics compared to April 2004 figures:
- 717 patients were ready for
discharge for more than six weeks in April 2005
compared to 1,004 in April 2004 (a 28.6 per cent
decrease).
- A total of 1,430 patients were
ready for discharge in Scotland in April 2005 compared
to 1,747 in April 2004 (a 18.1 per cent decrease).
- The number of patients delayed
for one year or more was 22 in April 2005 compared to
72 in April 2004 (a 69.4 per cent decrease).
- The median duration to the census
point for all patients ready for discharge was 43 days
(52 days at April 2004) while the mean duration was 75
days (98 days at April 2004).
There is an overall long term increase in activity
relating to older people in the Health Service.
Demographic trends show that the number of older people in
Scotland will continue to rise over the next twenty
years.
The 2004 Spending Review continued the Executive's
investment of £30 million a year to help local authorities
and NHS boards tackle delayed discharge until 2007-08.
National targets had been set for April 2005 to achieve
a 20 per cent reduction in all patients ready for
discharge, based on a starting point of the April 2004
census. This was nearly achieved, there was a 18.1 per
cent drop in the number of patients ready for discharge in
April 2005. The target for tackling the patients waiting
to be discharged for more than six weeks was exceeded -
28.6 per cent fewer patients were waiting in April 2005,
exceeding the target of a 20% reduction compared with April
2004.