The extent of the numbers of patients in hospitals who do not need to be there across Greater Manchester can be revealed today by startling new NHS figures.
Taking the course of a single day as a snap-shot, the Manchester Evening News can reveal 936 patients were classed by the NHS as 'no longer meeting the criteria to reside'.
But just a fraction of that amount - 122 - were discharged over the course of the day up until midnight, leaving the majority remaining in hospital taking up beds for those who were desperately sick and urgently needed them.
The statistics lay bare the crisis in social care as the majority of the patients were unable to leave because of a lack of suitable nursing accommodation or available care in the community facilities.
At one trust, Northern Care Alliance (NCA) NHS Foundation Trust, which runs four hospitals and community services within Salford, Oldham, Bury and Rochdale, just three patients were discharged all day.
Just two patients were discharged at Stockport NHS Foundation Trust. No patients at all were discharged from either Stepping Hill hospital or hospitals covered by the NCA between 5pm and midnight, reveals the data.
The figures are for Christmas Day, the latest published by the NHS, but the statistics for previous days and weeks reveal a similar trend.
As pressure continues to mount on the NHS, the figures come after the Manchester Evening News revealed last week that latest official NHS data shows a total of 539 patients were admitted to hospitals in Greater Manchester on Boxing Day alone, with the figures illustrating patients were coming in faster than they could be discharged.
Available hospital beds in Greater Manchester, meanwhile, were said to be almost full - the data shows occupancy is currently at around 98 per cent, with around a tenth of all beds filled with Covid-positive patients. And almost 150 sick patients had to wait more than an hour to be seen by A&E teams after being taken to hospitals in Greater Manchester by ambulance on a single day in December, according to newly published data.
The figures show the number of patients at:
Bolton NHS Foundation Trust:
No longer meet the criteria to reside - 91
Discharged by 5pm - 10
Discharged between 5pm and midnight - 4
Remaining in hospital who no longer meet the criteria to reside - 77
Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust:
No longer meet the criteria to reside - 323
Discharged by 5pm - 50
Discharged between 5pm and midnight - 23
Remaining in hospital who no longer meet the criteria to reside - 250
Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust:
No longer meet the criteria to reside- 245
Discharged by 5pm - 3
Discharged between 5pm and midnight - 0
Remaining in hospital who no longer meet the criteria to reside - 242
Stockport NHS Foundation Trust:
No longer meet the criteria to reside - 102
Discharged by 5pm - 2
Discharged between 5pm and midnight - 0
Remaining in hospital who no longer meet the criteria to reside - 100
Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust:
No longer meet the criteria to reside - 36
Discharged by 5pm - 2
Discharged between 5pm and midnight - 4
Remaining in hospital who no longer meet the criteria to reside - 30
Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust:
No longer meet the criteria to reside- 139
Discharged by 5pm- 14
Discharged between 5pm and midnight - 10
Remaining in hospital who no longer meet the criteria to reside - 115
Figures show staff sickness isn't helping the situation either. On Christmas Day alone, the data shows there were 4,969 members of staff off work with sickness or because of self-isolation at Greater Manchester hospitals. Of those, 463 were said to be Covid-related absences.
The London Ambulance Service, meanwhile, has now said it will only spend 45 minutes handing patients over to A&E as it pushes to get ambulances back on the road for 999 calls. A leaked email shows ambulance leaders stating how they will tackle delayed handovers, where patients are stuck in ambulances outside hospitals for hours or face long waits for A&E staff to complete a handover.
Ambulance trusts across the country are struggling to respond to 999 calls on time, with delays handing patients to A&E playing a major role. The Manchester Evening News has asked North West Ambulance Service whether it is adopting a similar policy, and for an update on the current situation, but has received no response.
Health bosses, meanwhile, have issued a warning over rising flu cases and clinicians across Greater Manchester have been told to identify whether travel from China has taken place in the preceding 14 days for patients presenting with Covid symptoms.
Dr Merav Kliner, deputy regional director of the UK Health Security Agency in the north west, said: "As we see more cases of flu across the north west, we can all play a part in reducing infections spreading by following simple measures. It is important to remember that catching flu or other infections for more vulnerable people can be far more serious.
"Taking sensible measures to stop bugs spreading is something we all can and should do. These include good hygiene, taking up vaccinations when offered and not mixing with vulnerable people when you are poorly yourself."
The UKHSA said China was currently experiencing its largest and most serious Covid wave since the start of the pandemic.
In a message to hospital healthcare staff, the agency said: "As a precautionary measure, we are therefore requesting your assistance in the coming weeks to identify any Covid-hospitalised cases who have arrived from China in the preceding 14 days for sequencing. This will allow us to undertake enhanced surveillance on the variants circulating in China."
With NHS ambulance service strikes planned for later this month the mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, called on the Government to 'start talking properly' about pay 'solutions'.
He said: "On public sector pay, I see a brief window in the next week or so to move beyond the entrenched positions of 2022 and set a new tone for the year. I beseech the Government to use it.
"It is simply not tenable for them to refuse to discuss pay in the middle of a cost of living crisis with workers who devote their lives to the service of others and have seen their pay fall in real terms over the last decade. To deny they have a point is to devalue their vocation. It is disrespectful to them and dangerous for us all.
"That said, I understand ministers' concern about the long-term affordability of any agreements, given the exceptional nature of this financial year. This points to an obvious solution: a one-off payment to get lower and middle earners to inflation this year followed by the establishment of an expanded and more independent pay review process, agreed with the unions, for 23/24 onwards."
The Manchester Evening News has asked the NHS in Greater Manchester for comment on the hospital discharge delay figures.
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