Care home beds are set to be used in a bid to tackle the issue of delayed discharges from hospital.
Health Secretary Humza Yousaf has unveiled an extra £8 million of funding to help the NHS deal with “the extraordinary pressures” it is facing this winter.
He told Holyrood on Tuesday that there were more than 1,700 people in hospital across the country “who do not need to be there for clinical reasons, and whose interests are not best served by being there”.
Julie White, chief office of Dumfries and Galloway Health and Social Care Partnership (DGHSCP), recently revealed there were more than 100 patients in a similar situation in the region.
Mr Yousaf hopes using some of the funding for additional care home beds means patients can be “discharged from hospital in a timely and safe fashion”.
He said: “These interim beds may not be a family’s first, or indeed second, choice for their relative.
“But I hope families agree in the current circumstances this is about making the best possible choice for those in our care.
“This measure will only be in place for a limited period of time to directly support our hospitals to deal with pressures at the front door.
“However, it will enable some people to move from an acute setting to a more appropriate community one, recognising the risk of prolonged stays in hospital.”
Funding will also be used to boost capacity at NHS 24, although the Royal College of Nursing claims investment in more staff is needed to tackle the delayed discharge problems facing the health service.
And Galloway and West Dumfries MSP Finlay Carson also expressed doubts over the care home plan.
Reacting to an interview by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, the Tory MSP tweeted: “What care homes have space in D&G? I don’t know of any. Her head is in the sand over the crisis we are facing in Galloway and across Scotland.”
In the past 18 months two Dumfries and Galloway care homes have closed.
Singleton Park near Parkgate shut at the end of 2021 with 33 residents affected, while in October 22 Dalawoodie House at Newbridge closed, with alternative accommodation having to be found for 26 residents.
A spokesman for the region’s health and social care partnership said: “DGHSCP currently has the ability to purchase available care home places on a case-by-case basis where there is an immediate, unplanned requirement to meet someone’s needs within a care home setting.
“Our focus remains on providing care to people in the right place, supporting people to live as independently as possible in their own homes. We continue to build provision for community support.
“With an appreciation that care home capacity is constrained, a number of actions are being taken to address system pressures.
“Within our hospital settings, we are focused on discharging people promptly once they no longer have a medical need to be in hospital.
“Fundamentally, our key challenge across all of health and social care in Dumfries and Galloway is not beds, but having sufficient staffing capacity. This is something we continue to work to address in partnership with colleagues nationally.”
