FIGURES released by Public Health Scotland on Tuesday show a mixed picture where it come to delayed hospital discharge in Dumfries and Galloway.
While November 2024 showed an improvement in the situation when compared to November 2023, there was also a rise between October and November 2024.
In October 2024, the number of bed days occupied was 2013 and it had risen to 2130 by the following month.
Delayed discharge is when a patient is medically cleared to go home but cannot leave hospital, often because a social care package is not in place or there is a lack of places in care homes or sheltered housing.
Across the region thousands of hours of assessed care is not being provided in homes because of a lack of carers, says Colin Smyth MSP.
He said: “I welcome any improvement in delayed discharge figures for our region but unfortunately, it still isn’t enough.
“If you look at how much higher numbers were in 2024 compared to pre-pandemic in 2019, you can really see how dire the situation continues to be.
“The human cost of delayed discharge cannot be underestimated, and this is reflected in the large number of emails I receive from constituents every week, many of whom don’t know where else to turn.
“But what continues to give me serious concern is the cost to our NHS. The more people remaining in hospital when they are fit to be discharged, the more pressure is piled onto the NHS and all the fantastic healthcare workers who are trying to help them.”
Mr Smyth wants to see long term investment, including tackling the ‘woeful’ low level of sheltered housing locally.
He added: “We also need to drive up the standards of care, because too often people receive just the very basic support, which isn’t enough.”
