Delayed discharges in NHSScotland monthly
Figures for March 2020
A National Statistics publication for Scotland
- Published
- 05 May 2020
- Type
- Statistical report
- Author
- Public Health Scotland
About this release
This release by Public Health Scotland (PHS) provides a monthly update on the number of hospital bed days associated with delayed discharges for a full calendar month. Information is also provided on the number of people experiencing a delay in discharge from hospital at the monthly census point. The data relate to people aged 18 and over who were clinically ready for discharge.
Main points
- In March 2020, there were 45,009 days spent in hospital by people whose discharge was delayed. This is an increase of 4% compared with the number of delayed days spent in hospital in March 2019 (43,419).
- In March 2020, the average number of beds occupied per day due to delayed discharges was 1,452. In February 2020, the daily average was 1,616.
- At the March 2020 census point, there were 1,171 people delayed. This is a decrease of 14% compared with the number of people delayed (1,364) at the census point in March 2019.
- Of those delayed at the March 2020 census point, 923 were delayed more than three days with health and social care reasons accounting for 585 delays (63%), complex needs accounting for 304 delays (33%) and patient and family-related reasons for 34 delays (4%).
- Delayed discharge figures in NHSScotland have seen a large drop between February and March 2020 which is due to the measures put in place to respond to COVID-19.
Background
Timely discharge from hospital is an important indicator of quality and is a marker for person-centred, effective, integrated and harm free care. A delayed discharge occurs when a hospital patient who is clinically ready for discharge from inpatient hospital care continues to occupy a hospital bed beyond the date they are ready for discharge.
The average daily number of beds occupied is calculated by dividing the total monthly number of delayed discharge bed days by the number of days in the calendar month. PHS considers this daily average a better statistic for comparing month on month differences as the number of days in a month varies.
The census figure reflects the position as at the last Thursday of the month.
Revised data definitions and national data requirements (external website) came into effect on 1 July 2016. These align census information and associated bed days and ensure more robust and consistent reporting across Scotland. Reports published using data prior to July 2016 cannot be used in direct comparison to figures published in this report.
It should be noted that figures presented in this publication are not directly comparable with other UK countries, due to differences in definitions and data reporting.
Further information
Data from this publication are available to download from the Scottish Health and Social Care Open Data platform (external website).
The next release of this publication will be 2 June 2020.
NHS Performs
A selection of information from this publication is included in NHS Performs (external website). NHS Performs is a website that brings together a range of information on how hospitals and NHS Boards within NHSScotland are performing.
General enquiries
If you have an enquiry relating to this publication, please email phs.delayeddischarges@phs.scot.
Media enquiries
If you have a media enquiry relating to this publication, please contact the Communications and Engagement team.
Requesting other formats and reporting issues
If you require publications or documents in other formats, please email phs.otherformats@phs.scot.
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Older versions of this publication
Versions of this publication released before 16 March 2020 may be found on the Data and Intelligence, Health Protection Scotland or Improving Health websites.