Rachael Hamilton MSP has expressed her disappointment at figures showing that NHS Borders is estimated to be losing £3 million per annum due to delayed discharges from hospital.
Figures from a Scottish Conservative Freedom of Information Request showed that 12951 days were occupied by Borders patients last year who were fit to leave hospital.
It is estimated that this cost NHS Borders £3,030,534 last year, with the most recent figure for the average cost of delayed discharge standing at £234 per day, according to ISD Scotland.
Last year across Scotland, it is projected that over £120 million was spent on dealing with delayed discharges from hospital as a result of 500,000 bed-blocking patients.
Delayed discharge causes misery for patients who in many cases are able to leave hospital, but remain in a hospital bed due to a lack of suitable care packages and care home places.
Ms Hamilton praised the hardworking doctors, nurses and staff for their hard work to keep the NHS running smoothly, and claimed the Scottish Government are to blame for the lack of improvement in reducing bed blocking.
Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire MSP, Rachael Hamilton said:
“This £3 million could have been spent elsewhere in the NHS, but the SNP Government’s failure to properly manage Scotland’s NHS means it has been used to deal with delayed discharges.
“Delayed discharge has caused huge problems in hospitals for several years now, yet the SNP government has made little progress in this area.
“It is disappointing and upsetting for hundreds of patients who are fit to leave but have nowhere to go.
“Doctors, nurses and staff work tirelessly to help patients recover, and we are indebted to their unceasing efforts, yet we know they are the ones bearing the brunt of the SNP’s poor stewardship of the Scottish NHS.
“We keep hearing of reform and improvement plans from the Health Secretary Jeane Freeman, but nothing ever happens.