Delayed discharges from NHS Ayrshire and Arran hospitals has cost the health board almost £100 million, new figures have revealed.

Figures compiled by Scottish Labour also show that 368,000 bed days have been lost due to delays in discharging patients from care settings.

Delayed discharge is when a patient is medically cleared to go home but cannot leave hospital, often because a social care package is not in place or there are a lack of places in care homes or sheltered housing.

Medical professionals and the BMA have said that the crisis in the NHS will not be ended without tackling delayed discharge.

South Scotland MSP Colin Smyth is now demanding action to tackle the issue once and for all.

He said: “It’s been almost a decade since the SNP promised to end delayed discharge – but our region is still paying the price for their failure.

“Make no mistake – this is a disaster over a decade in the making, with successive Health Secretaries – including Humza Yousaf – completely unable to tackle delayed discharge.

“I have repeatedly raised this issue since I was elected but the situation is getting worse and worse.

“Medical professionals are clear that the failure to tackle delayed discharge is crippling our NHS and putting lives at risk.

“Services in Ayrshire are at breaking point but a staggering £99,386,828 has gone down the drain because of the SNP’s incompetence.

“We cannot have patients left in hospital unnecessarily and the public purse drained due to poor provision of care for those leaving hospital.

“We need long term investment, but the Government could start by backing Labour’s plans to pay care workers a fair wage moving towards £15 per hour as quickly as possible, which would help with the recruitment crisis.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “There are various, and often complex, reasons why individuals are delayed in hospital, and it is critical that people are cared for in the right setting and that hospital beds are there for those who need them.

"One fifth of delays involve people who lack capacity and require additional time for legal matters to be agreed.

"Between November 2022 and November 2023, we have seen a decrease of 3 per cent in the number of beds occupied by delayed discharge patients each day.

"However, we do not underestimate the impact of delayed discharge on both patients themselves, and on the system as a whole.

“In addition to the £3.6m provided this year to support growth of Hospital at Home services for older people, we have also invested additional funds as part of our winter plan to increase capacity and provide services in peoples’ own homes where appropriate.  

"Significant additional funding has also been allocated to support social care. From April 2024 adult social care workers delivering direct care in commissioned services will see their pay increase to a minimum of £12 per hour.

"And the Scottish budget for 2024-25 provides an additional £2bn investment in social care and integration, delivering on our commitment to increase spending by 25 per cent over this parliament – two years ahead of our original target.

“We continue to work closely with health and social care partnerships to address delays and support people out of acute settings and back into the community or home as quickly as possible.

"We have also been supporting partnerships to create the necessary capacity to deal with emerging pressures over winter, and to ensure people are assessed, discharged and receive the appropriate care package as quickly as possible.”

NHS Ayrshire and Arran has been contacted for comment.