Mental health patients have been ‘abandoned’ by ministers, says Labour

Ministers have been accused of “abandoning” mental health patients after figures revealed a rise in delayed discharge waits.

Scottish Labour said it was “scandalous” that the average wait for people who experienced delayed discharge in a mental health or learning disability ward rose to nearly three months (87 days) in 2023.

The figures, published in the latest Mental Health Inpatient Census, showed that the average wait time was 19 days longer than the previous year.

Delayed discharge occurs when patients are medically fit to leave hospital but cannot do so as they are waiting for care arrangements to be put in place.

The census revealed that patients in parts of the country experienced even worse waits with five health boards facing average delays of more than 100 days.

The median wait in Fife was 467 days, while the median was 239 days in NHS Highlands and 134 days in Ayrshire and Arran.

Those in Dumfries and Galloway waited 107 days on average while patients in Glasgow spent an average of 106 days in hospital when they were ready to leave.

The number of people in mental health and learning disability wards who experienced delayed discharge in Scotland in 2023 was 321, accounting for 11% of all patients. This is up 1% since 2022.

Figures released earlier this month showed that for patients of all types, delayed discharge was rising.

Statistics for September showed patients who were medically well enough to leave spent 59,033 additional days in hospital. – 9% higher than the same time last year.

During that month, an average of 1,968 beds were occupied each day by people whose discharge was delayed, figures from Public Health Scotland showed.

Scottish Labour said the statistics were a sign of an overstretched social care system.

MSP Paul Sweeney, the party’s health spokesperson, said: “These scandalous figures are a damning indictment of Scotland’s overstretched social care system.

“Vulnerable patients recovering from a mental health crisis need a proper support plan, but too many have been abandoned by the SNP.

“Being stranded in hospital needlessly for months on end will hinder patients’ recovery and pile pressure on services.

“The SNP must get a handle on this crisis and ensure our social care system is equipped to give the support these patients need.”

Mental Wellbeing Secretary Maree Todd said: “It is completely unacceptable that people are spending time in hospitals or other care settings when they are medically fit for discharge.

“Discharge planning should begin at the point of admission and provide high-quality care and support for people with learning disabilities to live in their home communities.

”We are taking action through our Coming Home programme, such as support registers to help with local planning, and have allocated £20m to health boards to design community-based solutions to avoid or limit future hospital use.”