NHS Scotland needs 1000 new beds to clear up bed-blocking crisis
dailyrecord.co.ukScotland needs 1000 new hospital beds to deal with a bed-blocking crisis clogging up the entire health service. More than 1900 patients are currently trapped in hospital who are well enough to leave, according to the latest figures.
The impact is being felt sharply at hospital doors with lengthy queues at A&E and some hospitals cancelling non-emergency operations.
In November, there were 58,501 days spent in hospital by people whose discharge was delayed – bed blocking. This is up 25 per cent on figures from November 2021.John-Paul Lough-rey, vice president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine for Scotland, said the situation is so dire in some hospitals that offices and relatives’ rooms are being converted to take an A&E overspill of patients.Loughrey, who sees the pressure at emergency departments daily as an emergency medicine consultant, said: “We need more beds in Scotland – we are about 1000 beds short.
The true problem isn’t too many people coming to see us who shouldn’t be there.“Our attendance numbers are actually still lower than they were before Covid.
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