Royal Bolton: Over 100 NHS patients wait for discharge every day

According to the Department for Health and Social Care, an average of more than 100 patients were still having to wait to be discharged and through no fault of their own still taking up space on wards every day in October.

This comes with 35,000 were still on waiting lists, but Cllr Andy Morgan, Bolton Council cabinet member for adult services, stressed that people waiting for discharge are not 'bed blockers' but are waiting to be brought home safely.

Cllr Morgan said:“Bed blocker, to me, means people lying in a hospital bed who are well enough to go home, but won’t, but we know that actually people do want to go home and that they’re awaiting discharge.”

He added: “We understand it to mean people who could be going home but maybe need a piece of equipment, or extra care that will allow them to do that safely.

"The fact that it’s a hundred odd people is down to the volume of people going into the hospital, but out teams are meeting on literally a daily basis looking at how we can safely discharge people.”

The Early Supported Discharge Scheme is one of several the trust hopes will address waiting lists (Image: Bolton NHS Foundation Trust)

Cllr Morgan explained that Bolton’s new locality board, which he chairs, has been bringing together council officials, social care agencies and NHS specialists to look at how best to get patients home.

He said: “The teams are working really well together and it could be a lot worse.

"We know from our collegues around Greater Manchester that in many cases they’re actually having even bigger problems then we are because they haven’t progressed as far in terms of integration.”

At the time of Bolton NHS Foundation Trust's board meeting last month there were 130 patients staying at the hospital with ‘no criteria to reside’ and the figures now published by NHS England showed that the figure remained at above 100 for every day of October.

Though the number of patients fluctuated throughout the month, it did not fall below 100 at any point and reached into the 170s on several days.

But the trust has unveiled several schemes since then that have been designed to address this problem and to reduce the backlog of patients waiting to be seen.

This has included the Early Supported Discharge scheme, which enlists GPs to help support hospital patients who are well enough to be treated at home.

Speaking at the time, chief operating officer Rae Wheatcroft said: “All partners in the Bolton health and care system are working really hard to help patients safely back to the place they call home as soon as possible.

“When hospital care is no longer needed, research shows being at home can improve recovery by providing a comfortable and familiar environment.”

ALSO READ: Royal Bolton looks to combat bed blocking amid 35,000 waiting list

ALSO READ: New plans to free up hospital beds in Bolton - while ensuring people recover quickly

The issues with patients in Bolton having to wait until they can leave was also reflected at national level.

Across England, the number of occupied beds has risen from 11,590 per day in June to 13,305 in September and 13,613 last month.

NHS Providers director of policy and strategy Miriam Deakin said: "Nobody in the NHS wants people to be kept waiting but pressure on social care and community services means that hospitals struggle to discharge people who’re well enough to leave.

"To ease pressure on the NHS, the government must act now to fix chronic staff shortages and an underfunded social care system."