The Labour Party has published stunning analysis of official figures which shows that 511,972 beds were taken up by “delayed discharge” between September 2016 and August 2017 in Scottish hospitals.

These were beds that were occupied by patients who could have been discharged from hospital but weren’t because of a lack of appropriate care in the community or at home.

Using NHS Scotland’s estimate of £214 daily in patient expenses the analysis suggests that £110m is being spent on patients who could otherwise have returned to community care.

According to Colin Smyth, Labour’s Social Care Spokesman: “The SNP promised to abolish delayed discharge; instead it has cost our health service more than £100 million in the past year.

“The system is unsustainable. The SNP government cannot continue to slash the budgets of local services that people rely on and not expect it to have a knock-on effect on our health service.”

Labour has placed the blame squarely at the door of the ruling SNP government and highlighted:

• Local authority budget cuts totalling £1.5 billion since 2011
• A previous promise made by Shona Robison, Health Minister, to “eradicate” the problem by the end of 2015

The Conservative party also pointed out that 3,000 family doctors have left Scotland in the last 10 years. The Tories claimed that, in the last two years alone, 1,275 doctors had requested the Certificate of Current Professional Status (CCPS). Since 2008 there have been 5,044 applications for the certificate which is typically desired by those looking to work abroad.

The Conservative Shadow Health Minister, Miles Briggs, said the research sets “out starkly the brain drain we have seen in Scotland over the last decade.

“Of course every part of the UK has lost doctors to countries like Australia and New Zealand in recent years. But rather than point the finger elsewhere, the SNP must act on these figures and do more encourage doctors to come back – or not leave in the first place.”

Speaking out on the bed blocking issue, Ms Robison highlighted how the number of bed days lost to delays had fallen by 8% between August 2016 and 2017.

She said: “No one should wait longer than absolutely necessary to leave hospital and that’s why we have legislated to integrate health and social care to ensure services are planned and commissioned in a joined-up way from a single budget.

“This year, almost half a billion pounds of additional investment will go into social care and integration while the health revenue budget will increase by almost £2 billion by 2021.”