MORE than 100 hospital beds were occupied by patients who were well enough to leave hospital but were not able to do so, new figures have shown.
Over a one-month period, 104 beds were taken up at Barnsley Hospital for a variety of reasons by people who did not need them.
This is called a ‘delayed transfer of care’, often referred to as bed blocking.
As soon as it is decided the patient it ready to go home or be transferred, but remains in hospital, the patient is classed as a ‘delayed transfer.’
The latest figures show that for the month of June, 57 people were unable to leave hospital because they were awaiting further, non acute NHS care. In addition, 15 patients were awaiting a care package for their own home and 14 patients were awaiting the completion of assessments.
There were also ten people awaiting a place in a residential home and six people awaiting community equipment and adaptations.
There were also two patients who were kept in at either theirs or their family’s request.
Karen Kelly, director of operations at Barnsley Hospital, said every delayed transfer of care is recorded, including the type of patient, what they are waiting for and why they are in hospital.
She said: “There will always be a number of patients who are medically fit and well who don’t need acute hospital care. These are the patients who are delayed.
“They are waiting for something else which is generally out of our control.
“We are really proud of ourselves in terms of helping patients to be where they need to be.”
Ms Kelly said there were some cases involving social services which meant patients had to stay in hospital longer than they should while it was established that the next stage of their care was appropriate and safe. She said the number of these cases were low, and at 3.5 per cent were below the national average of four per cent.
But she said a patient would never be refused admission because of people taking up beds they didn’t need, and that beds on other wards would be opened if needed.
She added: “We’d put extra consultant rounds on, extra diagnostic checks. We would never not admit a patient who needed acute hospital care. We would find a way of making sure the patient got the care they needed.
“There are lots of things we can do to help patients, but it can mean we have delays processing patients through the whole trust which manifests itself in the emergency department because we can’t process patients fast enough.”
She said she was not concerned by the figures.
She added: “We are managing the flow and working with patients to make sure they get to where they need to be.
“I would always like it to be less because it is better for our patients and better for Barnsley. But we are managing what we need to in the right way.”
