There's still almost 900 people stuck in Greater Manchester hospitals that need to go home
16.02.2024 - 19:17
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Almost 900 people who are medically fit to go home are stuck in Greater Manchester hospital beds, while demand for scarce space on wards remains huge.
The number of patients waiting to be discharged has risen above 800 repeatedly over the winter, remaining at this high level for weeks at a time. This winter has been another severely pressured cold season for the NHS, hit by spikes in Covid-19, flu and norovirus, long waits in A&E, packed wards and major delays to care.
Greater Manchester has witnessed terrifying scenes of elderly and vulnerable patients waiting more than 24 hours for a bed, or languishing on trolleys in emergency department corridors for hours. Those incidents come amid delays in sending hundreds of people across Greater Manchester who are medically fit to go home – which has been a regular struggle for hospitals in the region, and the rest of the country, over the last three years.
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Hospital beds are being kept occupied by people who have 'no reason to reside', meaning there is not a medical necessity for them to be on a ward. Beds cannot be cleared of people fit to leave because social care is massively overstretched, numerous NHS figures say.
Lacking social care resources and short staffing mean patients who do not need care in hospital but might need looking after in the community will have no support.
If a care home placement cannot be found for patients, or there are no care workers to visit people who may need checking on at home, they cannot be discharged by doctors and are forced to remain in hospital. The more beds occupied by people who have no reason to be in hospital other than these delays, the fewer beds are