New figures show pressure on social care could see over 50,000 Fife patients spend longer in hospital according to a West Fife council candidate.
Graeme Downie, Scottish Labour Candidate for West Fife and Coastal Villages, has analysed the latest figures from the Scottish Government and believes over 50,000 people in Fife could see their discharge from hospital delayed, an increase of 69% on last year and up 21% from before the Covid-19 Pandemic.
The figures also show pressure on social care is the primary driver for the increase with the number of delayed discharges due to “health and social care reasons” in Fife set to exceed 35,000, more than doubling since last year and increasing by 20% since before the pandemic.
Mr. Downie has called for a “New Deal for Social Care” including pay staff £15 an hour to aid recruitment and provide additional funding to Fife Council to help tackle the problem.
Commenting on the figures, Graeme Downie, Scottish Labour candidate for West Fife and Coastal Villages, said: “I’m sad to say I’ve repeatedly heard from families how upsetting it is to have a relative stuck in hospital because of health and social care shortages in West Fife and Coastal Villages.”
“Delayed discharges not only put unnecessary pressure and costs on acute services but prevent a person from living more independently in their home or community, where we know recovery is better.”
“With health and social care staff continuing to work so hard to protect us from Covid-19, the Scottish Government must provide proper funding for a £15 an hour wage for care workers and provide Fife Council the resources it needs to improve social care so we can begin to reduce the problem of delayed discharges.”
Data
| Year | All delayed discharges (Fife local authority area)
|
“Health and Social Care Reasons” for delay (Fife local authority area) |
| 2019/20 | 41,735 | 29,278 |
| 2020/21 | 29,970 | 17,846 |
| 2021/22 (Apr-Oct) | 29, 970 | 20,656 |
| 2021/22 (projected) | 50,530 | 35,410 |
Figures are available for April 2021 to October 2021 inclusive, with projections derived from those 7 months. Previous full year figures have shown no significant drop over the period for October – March indicating this extrapolation is a fair indicator of full 2021-22 figures.
Full data tables are available via Public Health Scotland.