HOSPITALS in Dorset are being put under even more pressure as hundreds of patients fit to be discharged were taking up beds at the University Hospitals Dorset Trust every day on average in October.

It comes after the average number of delayed discharges in England reached a new high last month.

Last year, UHD came under such huge pressure due to the issue of bed blocking, the trust opened a care hotel to act as a interim measure to help ease the numbers.

NHS England figures show an average of 282 beds per day were occupied by people ready to be discharged from University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust in October – up from 263 the month before.

Across the country, the average number of occupied beds has risen consistently since the summer, from 11,590 per day in June to 13,305 in September and 13,613 last month, the highest monthly figure since comparable data began in December 2021.

Issues with bed blocking are said to have been caused by reduced funding for local authorities, meaning many patients are waiting in hospitals for adequate care packages to be installed, such as home adaptions, places in care homes or community health support.

The difficulty of recruiting and retaining staff in the adult social care sector has also been raised as a key issue, particularly locally.

Nationally, just 40 per cent of hospital patients were discharged when they were ready in October.

In the University Hospitals Dorset Trust, this fell to 23 per cent – down from 26 per cent in September.

Dean Spencer, chief operating officer NHS Dorset, said: “It is important that as soon as a person is medically ready to leave hospital, they should be discharged, not just for their own recovery but also to make room for new admissions, meaning ambulance crews and emergency staff can attend to other patients.

“We are of course aware that a timely discharge into the care of families, friends or further care is not always straightforward, and many people require further care including administering medicine or changing dressing alongside more everyday help such as preparing meals or shopping.

“Staff have a responsibility to patients, and every day we work closely with members of the public and our partners at local care homes or community hospitals to ensure those who are discharged get the correct support – sometimes this may take longer that we would like.

“As health and social care services continue to be stretched, the role of relatives is very highly valued, and we thank those who have helped support getting their loved ones out of hospital.”

Hospital patients in Dorset were transferred to a care hotel to ease some of the pressure on beds earlier this year.

University Hospitals Dorset contracted private company Abicare to provide 24-hour care on one floor of a Bournemouth hotel for the duration of a 14 week contract in January.

The facility was opened to help some of the 200 patients medically fit for discharge to leave Bournemouth and Poole hospitals.

At the time, Sophie Jordan, associate director of operations at UHD, said: "We’ll certainly look at it next year for our winter planning and again we might consider different venues depending on size and who we deliver it to.” 

When asked whether the care hotel programme would return to the area this year, a UHD spokesperson said 'there are no plans as yet, but that could change.'