Murdo has called on the Health Secretary to address the “shocking” number of delayed bed discharges in Fife.
He was reacting to figures released this week by Public Health Scotland (PHS) which reveal that the number of patients in Fife whose discharge from hospital was delayed increase from 873 ‘bed days’ in February to 1,245 in March.
In addition, the average daily number of delayed bed discharges in the Kingdom also increased from 30 to 40 during this period.
The overall data for Scotland revealed that the average number of beds occupied by patients delayed from leaving hospitals actually reached its highest level in four months. The PHS figures show that on average, 1,892 beds were occupied each day by patients clinically set to leave hospital but not able to do so, was the highest level since November last year when the average was 1,894.
Commenting, Murdo said: “We are supposedly in a new era of SNP Government, with First Minister John Swinney promising a new broom so to speak. However, it is the same issues that the public of Scotland face and want action on, such as improving our health service along with the ongoing problem of the number of delayed bed discharges in the country.
“The figures on delayed bed discharges for Fife are very concerning and show no sign of improving. Indeed, the figures actually increased for March which must have been very alarming for those patients who were set to leave hospital but were unable to do so due to either a lack of a social care package, family or carer issues.
“The data for delayed bed discharge in Fife is shocking and shows how the SNP Government have taken their eye off the ball in terms of helping our NHS. It is plain to see that this issue is getting worse not only in the Kingdom but right across Scotland, and this then puts pressure on other services. Warm words from SNP Government Ministers are not enough – we need action.”
