BED-BLOCKING patients are getting stuck in hospital for up to two months because of delays in them being discharged.

Difficulties in finding care or nursing home places or arranging extra care in a patient’s home have been creating the long waits at Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust.

The delays are causing bed shortages at the trust’s hospitals , which is having a knock-on effect on other departments such as accident and emergency.

Information published by NHS England reveals three patients waited more than 12 hours in A&E in July for a bed to become available. This breaches national guidelines.

On Monday the trust had 48 patients, mainly elderly, waiting to be discharged from the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton and Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath.

The longest waits include 60 days for packages of care in a person’s home, 42 days for a nursing home and 33 days for a residential home.

A trust spokesman said: “Our aim is always to treat patients in our emergency departments as quickly as possible but unfortunately when the hospital is very busy there are times when patients have to wait longer than we would like.

“All patients who do have to wait in A&E are seen by a clinician within twenty minutes of arriving in the department, are made as comfortable as possible and are regularly monitored in a safe environment.

“We are aware this is happening too often and we are working extremely hard to improve the flow of patients through A&E by creating more space for patients within the whole hospital, as well as working with our partner health and social care organisations to create more space out in the community that will allow patients to be discharged from hospital quicker.”

Brighton and Hove City Council and the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) are working with the trust, other NHS organisations, charities and voluntary groups to try to improve patient flow.

This has included opening more beds in the community and assessing patients who are fit to be discharged in their own homes instead of hospital.

Extra support is also given to the elderly and frail to stop them having to be admitted to hospital in the first place.

The longest wait data relates to a handful of patients from across Sussex, with waits for Brighton and Hove generally shorter on average than in the east and west of the county.

The CCG has said there will inevitably be a delay for a small number of patients who are ready for discharge but have complex conditions that need extra support and ongoing care.

REDUCING DELAYED TRANSFERS IS A KEY AREA IN WINTER RESILIENCE PLAN

TRUST bosses have said a great deal of work is being carried out behind the scenes to improve the flow of patients through the hospital.

The trust is liaising with Brighton and Hove City Council, the clinical commissioning group (CCG) and other NHS, charitable and voluntary organisations.

A CCG spokeswoman said: “Delayed transfers of care are experienced in acute and community hospital beds and result in a poor patient experience and have a negative impact on the health and social care system’s capacity to manage demand. 

“We are currently working to finalise our winter resilience plan and reducing delayed transfers of care is a key area of focus within it.” 

Examples of projects include setting up a system within the hospital trust where consultants assess a patient as soon as they are admitted and formally assign an expected discharge day for them.

This is subject to change depending on the health of the patient but having a formal date gives the hospital, social services and NHS community trust workers a specific day to work towards.

Another pilot project is the discharge to assess scheme.

Historically, patients ready to be discharged have had to stay in hospital while assessments and checks are carried out to see if they are able to cope at home. 

Under the pilot scheme, the patient is allowed to go home and the assessments, which include occupational therapy and physiotherapy, are done there. The patient will continue to get the support they need at their home during this time.

Brighton and Hove City Council also commissions a rapid home care service with staff based at the hospital so they are on the spot to arrange the care needed as quickly as possible.

The number of beds available in the hospital and in the community have also been increased to cope with demand.

GPs across the city have been looking at ways to improve access to services so patients can get appointments more quickly and are not tempted to use A&E services instead.