The drive to reduce NHS waiting lists is being hampered by bed blockers which are now costing taxpayers more than £2bn a year, a study reveals.
More than 12,000 hospital beds each day are occupied by patients who no longer have a medical need to stay but cannot leave.
The enormous scale of the crisis – equivalent to closing 26 entire hospitals – is forcing administrators to cancel operations and causing ambulance delays as there are too few beds for new admissions.
A total of 15.7 million bed days have been lost due to bed blocking over the past three and a half years, according to new analysis of NHS figures.
This averages 12,008 beds per day during the study period, but the problem has worsened significantly during this time, increasing 59 percent from an average of 8,039 per day in April 2021 to 12,772 in April 2024.
Many of those stuck in wards are waiting for a place in a nursing home or for a care package to be arranged in their own home.
Charities warn that the longer older people stay in hospital, the more they will deteriorate and the greater the risk they will never regain their independence.
Leading health think tank the King’s Fund has calculated that it costs the NHS £395 a night to care for someone when they could be discharged.
A total of 15.7 million bed days have been lost due to bed blocking in the last three and a half years, according to new analysis of NHS figures (file image)
More than 12,000 hospital beds every day are occupied by patients who no longer have a medical need to stay but cannot leave (file image)
This means the direct costs of delayed discharges could total £6.2bn in the three and a half years since NHS England first published figures on delayed discharges, or £4.7bn daily.
There were an estimated 6.34 million people on NHS waiting lists for 7.54 million treatments at the end of October, latest figures show.
Health leaders and patient groups have lamented the government’s failure to fix social care and are calling for more funding and a long-term plan.
Helen Morgan, the Liberal Democrats’ health and social care spokesperson, who analyzed NHS England figures (must conserve), said millions of NHS bed days have been “unnecessarily wasted” due to a failure to recognize that social care that the NHS ‘needs to work hand in hand’.
He added: ‘The consequences are devastating: millions more cannot receive the treatment they deserve and patients are trapped in corridors and waiting rooms while they wait for a bed.
‘The new government cannot allow this unacceptable situation to continue any longer.
“They urgently need to engage in cross-party talks on social care and get hospitals the thousands of extra beds they need.”
An estimated 6.34 million people were on NHS waiting lists for 7.54 million treatments at the end of October, latest figures show (file image)
Rachel Power, chief executive of the Patients’ Association, said: “The failure to fix social care continues to cause serious knock-on effects across the NHS.
‘When people who are well enough to leave hospital cannot do so because they do not have the right support in their communities, this affects everyone.
‘It can lead to worse outcomes for people stuck in hospital and contribute to a loss of independence, especially for older people.
‘Meanwhile, this creates pressures across the system, from ambulances waiting outside A&E unable to respond to new emergencies, to patients facing longer waits to be admitted to hospital.
“Until we see a fully funded strategy for social care and the long-promised shift towards care closer to home, both patients and NHS staff will continue to face these unnecessary pressures and delays.”
The direct costs of delayed discharges could total £6.2 billion in the three and a half years since NHS England first published figures on delayed discharges, or £4.7 million every day (file image ).
Caroline Abrahams, Age UK’s director of charities, described the figures as a “major concern”.
He added: “The longer an older person spends in hospital, the lower their chances of making a full recovery and maintaining their independence.”
Saffron Cordery, acting chief executive of NHS Providers, said: “With hospital wards already almost full due to intense winter pressures, including a rise in cases of flu and other serious viruses, the NHS needs every bed it has.” .
‘Politicians can no longer continue postponing social assistance.
“We need urgent reform and adequate funding of social care to really get a grip on the worrying number of delayed discharges across the NHS.”
Cllr David Fothergill, chair of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, said: “Councils are working tirelessly to help people leave hospital safely, but the pressures they face, including shortages of labor of work, increasing demand and inadequate financing, make this increasingly challenging.
An NHS England spokesperson said: “With the NHS busier than ever heading into winter, delays in discharging patients are a real problem, which is why we are working closely with social care colleagues and local government. to make sure patients are discharged.” as soon as they are medically fit.’
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “This Government will address discharge delays to ensure people do not spend longer than necessary in hospital and to free up hospital beds as part of our 10-year health plan.”