To ask the Scottish Government when it last discussed plans to reduce delayed discharge with NHS Dumfries and Galloway. (S6O-04205)

The collaborative response and assurance group that I chair jointly with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities has met weekly with leaders from across the health and social care system, including from Dumfries and Galloway, since last June. Our most recent meeting was on Monday. We have been working to understand the challenges faced by areas with high levels of delay, including Dumfries and Galloway, and to support them to deliver the changes that will improve people’s journey from hospital to home or the care setting that is right for them.

Our planned budget for 2025-26 will invest a further £200 million to reduce waiting list backlogs, improve capacity and remove the barriers that keep some patients in hospital longer than is necessary.

A decade ago, the Scottish Government promised to eradicate delayed discharges. Since then, 193,000 bed days have been lost to delayed discharge in NHS Dumfries and Galloway, and the latest figures show that that number is rising yet again. It is no wonder that, today, the Royal College of Nursing published devastating testimony of nurses who are having to care for patients on trolleys because there are no spare hospital beds. When will the Government finally deliver on its promise to eradicate delayed discharge, or is that just another broken Scottish National Party health promise?

I will address two elements of that situation.

First, the intervention that we seek to take in the budget is intended directly to address the issues that we face with scheduled care or waiting lists and to address the flow through the system by providing capacity in social care and primary care in order to reduce hospital occupancy and length of stay. Where we have worked with local systems in the health service and social care to reduce length of stay and hospital occupancy and to address pre-delay discharge from hospital, that has been successful, and that is the basis on which we will continue to intervene. I encourage Colin Smyth to support the finance that is being provided to ensure that that can happen through the budget interventions.

Of course, I regret the situation that was raised in the Royal College of Nursing’s report. I addressed that on “Good Morning Scotland” this morning. We obviously wish to avoid that situation, not only for patients but for staff, and to ensure that we have a system that meets the needs of both groups.