Delayed discharge in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is “piling pressure on hospitals” as a new report reveals the issue cost the health board £38.8million in 2022/23.

Delayed discharge figures monitor the number of days patients spend in hospital despite being fit to leave, typically because of a lack of social care services in their area.

Over the course of the year, a total of 132,862 bed days in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde were lost to delayed discharge, as rates across Scotland hit a record high.

In West Dunbartonshire, 13,905 bed days were lost in 2022/23 with 11,944 lost in Argyll and Bute over the same period.

On average, across Scotland, according to the latest statistics, people spend 11 days as a delayed discharge, with significant consequences for patient wellbeing as well as our wider healthcare system.

Some 72 percent of these delays were due to health and social care reasons, exposing the intense pressure Scotland’s wider social care system is under. In Greater Glasgow and Clyde, more than a third (35 percent) were delayed for complex reasons.

Except during the first week of this year, the number of people waiting for a social care assessment to enable them to live independently at home or in the community across West Dunbartonshire has not dropped below 300 in 2023.

Dumbarton constituency MSP, Jackie Baillie said: “Delayed discharge across my constituency is piling pressure on our hospitals and threatening patients’ recovery.

“Our NHS is at breaking point and every penny matters. It is a scandal that NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has been forced to foot a £38.8million bill for SNP incompetence.

“Social care across Dumbarton, the Vale of Leven, Balloch, Helensburgh and Lomond is crying out for help, but the SNP’s botched National Care Service plans will do nothing but centralise local services.

“The Scottish Government must support social care services and increase pay for the sector’s dedicated workers, so no-one is left languishing in hospital waiting for a care package.”