£100 Million To Cut 'Bed-Blocking'

It's hoped a three-year funding package will reduce rates of bed blocking in Scottish hospitals.

The Health Secretary, Shona Robison, has announced that £100 million is to be spent helping health boards and councils provide support packages for people in their own homes.

It's estimated delayed discharges cost NHS Fife alone more than £3 million a year, the region is to receive £6.7 million.

Figures published last year showed an increase in the number of hospital patients waiting longer than four weeks to be discharged.

Ms Robison says the cash will be used to help health boards and local authorities provide support packages for people in their own homes.

The Health Secretary said tackling delayed discharge is "an absolute key priority" for the Scottish government.

She said: "Today's announcement of £100 million over the next three years is crucial to this effort.

“Reducing delayed discharge not only helps individual patients, who benefit from getting home or to a homely setting as quickly as possible, but also helps ease pressure across the system.

“However, this is about far more than just investment, it forms part of the Government’s overarching commitment to implementing the integration of health and social care services across Scotland.

“This will involve health boards working closer than ever with local government in a new relationship to deliver the right care to people in the right place at the right time.

“It will also include a shared commitment to deliver on key issues, such as discharging patients within 72 hours of clinical readiness, and reducing the number of hospital admissions that are avoidable.

Today’s announcement builds on the significant progress made to devise new and innovative ways to improve the flow of patients through health and care services. We will continue to support this work, together with our partners in the NHS and local government, to reshape the health and social care system as we work towards integration coming into force in April.”

A taskforce has been set up with COSLA to roll out plans to support delayed discharge improvement.

Councillor Peter Johnston, COSLA’s Health and Well-being Spokesperson, said:

“This is a timely investment from the Scottish Government – amidst a challenging operating environment for councils and health boards. The new Health and Social Care Partnerships will be forming in April and this resource will act as a real catalyst in making inroads into delayed discharge. Last November, council leaders took the landmark decision to focus on transferring people from hospital within 72 hours of their discharge date. Although a challenging aspiration, this resource will be crucial in helping partnerships to redesign services and create an even greater focus on supporting people to live independently at home.

“We will be taking a report to Council Leaders at the end of this month which will describe the investment in more detail. This new resource underpins a shared commitment between the Scottish Government and COSLA to improve performance, deliver on agreed objectives, and work with trust and reciprocity.” 

A local breakdown of funding is as follows: