Scottish Conservative MSP Brian Whittle has criticised the Scottish Government after new figures showed the SNP are still breaking their promise to end delayed discharge from hospital over a decade after first making the pledge.
South Scotland MSP Brian Whittle’s comments come after new statistics from Public Health Scotland showed that across Scotland over 60,000 bed days were lost in March alone because of so-called bed blocking, where a patient is fit enough to be discharged but can’t be because arrangements for ongoing care aren’t in place.
In NHS Ayrshire & Arran, 6,645 bed days were lost in March 2025, a 2.5% increase on the 5,171 in March last year.
Brian, the party’s public health spokesperson, blasted the Scottish Government’s failure to live up to their promises and challenged them to explain how they intended to solve the problem once and for all.
Brian Whittle MSP said: “Over a decade after the SNP promised to end delayed discharge, these figures show the situation getting worse.
Having patients who are fit enough to leave hospital but are stuck there because appropriate care isn’t in place doesn’t just frustrate patients, it puts extra pressure on hospitals and makes it even harder to clear backlogs and reduce A&E waiting times.
Instead of taking the steps required to solve this problem, the SNP have wasted years and tens of millions of pounds on a National Care Service plan that’s now been abandoned.
Scotland needs a credible plan to put more care packages in place, more quickly, if we are to have any hope of dealing with the twin crises in our NHS and in social care.”
