People are left in hospital when they could be being cared for at home
Responding to new figures showing a 4 per cent increase in delayed discharges between January and February, Alison Johnstone, Health and Wellbeing spokesperson for the Scottish Greens and MSP for Lothian, called on the SNP Government to be bolder with support for social care.
1,192 patients were stuck in hospital in February. 363 had complex care needs, while of the remaining 829 30 per cent were awaiting a place in a care home, 26 per cent were awaiting social care arrangements in their own home, and 26 per cent were awaiting completion of a social care assessment.
Alison said:
“Scottish Greens believe Scotland can care for everyone, young and old. The latest figures show the SNP needs to pick up the pace on investment in social care. Too many people are left in hospital when they could be being cared for at home or in appropriate accommodation.
"Paying carers a real living wage would help tackle the recruitment and retention crisis in social care, and free up capacity in our under-pressure hospitals. And we must see fairer funding for local services such as social care to ensure staff have the capacity to carry out the assessments so many people stuck in hospital need."