Eight people with learning disabilities in hospital for more than six years
Eight people with learning disabilities have been stuck in hospital for more than six years, figures show, while 57 are in “inappropriately out-of-area placements”.
Statistics released by Public Health Scotland on Tuesday show that as of September 26, 1,545 people in Scotland were on local dynamic support registers.
Such registers are designed to help those with learning disabilities avoid long stays in hospital or placements far from family.
Of those logged on registers, 486 cases are considered “urgent”.
In Scotland, 85 people on the registers were stuck in hospital, well enough to leave but without the necessary care package.
Of those, eight people had been waiting longer than six years – down from 12 since June – while 21 had been waiting between two and five years, the same figure as three months before.
Meanwhile, 79% of those on the registers are considered to be in “inappropriately out-of-area placements” – people who are receiving care too far away from their family against their own wishes and those of their loved ones.
The figures also showed 44 people are currently in the midst of a hospital stay of more than a decade, with 28 in for between six and nine years and 54 between two and five.
The Scottish Government has been contacted for comment.
Scottish Greens health spokeswoman Gillian Mackay said being kept in unsuitable accommodation “infringes on people’s human rights”, adding: “We cannot continue to leave people in hospitals who deserve to be living their lives with proper support in the comfort of their own home setting.
“There has been some progress – however, recent Coming Home progress reports have highlighted continuing challenges. We need to see urgent action to make sure people are not in unsuitable accommodation or stay in hospitals for longer than they should be.
“Cosla and the government need to work together to bring people home with appropriate care and support in place.”
Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said delayed discharges in these areas “can be of a very complex nature”, but can be “sharpened” by “gaps in community care”.
“For vulnerable people with learning disabilities, being stuck in hospital can be particularly upsetting, especially when the main roadblock is a lack of social care packages,” he added.
“They need robust community care that brings them closer to their support networks.
“Scottish Liberal Democrats want to see the government rewriting their failed NHS Recovery Plan and scrapping the doomed takeover of social care. We want to see ministers investing in solutions that work, including community-based services that will deliver appropriate clinical support, accommodation and tenancy support.”