PATIENTS are waiting weeks to be discharged from Bournemouth and Poole hospitals even though they are medically fit to leave.

There were recently around 200 people unable to vacate their hospital bed because no care or nursing home place or social care package was available.

The number represents seven wards full of patients medically fit for discharge.

At present, the problem is far bigger than Covid.

The hospital logjam, which could take months to unblock, is yet another sign of the social care crisis in England.

Medical director for medicine at University Hospitals Dorset, Dr Tristan Richardson, said: "We are struggling from a number of perspectives.

"These are incredibly crazy numbers and it's frustrating for the patients and frustrating for the staff.

"We want to get things moving and it is very difficult. People are having to wait weeks.

"It's also incredibly frustrating for people who are waiting to come in for their operations.

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"Quite understandably they are becoming less and less patient with the waiting lists. They understood it during Covid, we had the clapping and everything, but now they are getting fed up. They don't like it and we get that.

"But we are having to tell people their routine appointment is going to be more and more delayed."

In certain specialities there are more than 4,000 people on the waiting list.

He explained: "The person who can't leave the hospital means someone can't get out of the admission area, so someone else can't get out of the emergency department into admissions, which means an ambulance cannot offload and therefore can't be attending an emergency in the community.

"People are waiting so long because the ambulances are tied up."

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Dr Richardson, a consultant endocrinologist said the hospital workforce was "knackered" and stretched and the longer patients stayed in hospital, the more they de-condition, losing vital muscle mass.

Meanwhile nursing and care homes have staffing and bed shortages, for which there are no quick or easy answers.

Covid numbers in the two hospitals are around the mid-30 mark - they were 461 at the peak in January.

The next peak is predicted to be at the end of November, with a maximum peaking at around 50.

But Dr Richardson said: "It's much better than earlier in the year but it is still two or three wards which have to be covered with staff who would normally be doing other things."

There are also two extra wards of non-Covid emergency admissions to add to the pressure.

"That is a hell of a load of extra inpatient workload," he added.

A joint statement from BCP Council and Dorset Council said: "It has been widely reported in the media that there is a national crisis in care, which is replicated throughout Dorset. The problems that the cumulative impact of workforce shortages, growing Covid hospitalisations, a built - up need for urgent and elective procedures and the mitigations required for other seasonal illnesses means that the whole Health and Care sector is at the most fragile it has ever been nationally and locally. The long-lasting effects that the Covid pandemic brought are still impacting the health and social care sector’s ability to respond in the ways it did pre-pandemic.

"Within the Dorset Integrated Care System, NHS and social care partners have worked together to provide the necessary services to support residents across Dorset Council and BCP Council areas. During the pandemic we have seen an unprecedented increase in the number of people needing care and support services, including those being discharged from Hospital. Our care providers have worked tirelessly during the pandemic to safely manage infection control and provide high quality care. We recognise that because of the increased level of demand for services and pressures faced by care providers that there are sometimes delays before care can be provided when leaving hospital. All agencies across Dorset continue to work diligently to provide the right levels of care and support to those residents who need it most."