PATIENTS who were fit to leave Glasgow hospitals were delayed by 7143 days in March, new figures show.

The latest ISD Scotland figures show delayed discharges have reached a 12-month high in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde hospitals.

The figure is an increase of more than 100 from the previous, although shorter, month of February.

The report said 22 people had been delayed for more than six months, of whom four have been waiting more than a year.

The Scottish Conservatives said the figures showed that not enough progress had been made by the Scottish Government in tackling the problem.

However, Health Secretary Shona Robison said April’s census figures showed the number of patients delayed over three days was at its lowest level since August 2013.

Scottish Conservative Glasgow MSP Annie Wells said: “Delayed discharge is a problem that has affected Scotland’s NHS across the board, and it’s something the Scottish Government needs to start making progress on.

“Despite many warm words on the subject, we’ve seen bed-blocking rates increase to a 12-month high in Glasgow.

“It’s no wonder patients and their families feel like no progress is being made.

“Delayed discharge is a nightmare for vulnerable patients, who just want to move out of hospital and get on with life.

“But it’s also a huge hassle for hospitals too, and for those reasons the SNP really needs to get on top of this.”

Health Secretary Shona Robison said: “Good progress is being achieved in reducing delayed discharge with these figures showing, again, that we are in a significantly better position than last year.

"Over the year, our efforts to tackle delayed discharge have freed up an additional 55,000 bed days compared to 2014/15 and this is testament to the efforts of staff working across health and social care to get people back to their communities when they are ready to leave hospital.

“In addition, April’s census figures show the number of patients delayed over three days is at its lowest level since August 2013. This is in stark comparison to other parts of the UK where the number of people delayed waiting to leave hospital is on the rise.

“These figures reflect the impact of the first year of funding for delayed discharge – with a further £60 million due to come to local NHS and council partnerships over the next two years.

"In addition to this, we have also recently committed an additional quarter of a billion pounds to social care in this year’s budget which will be used to improve the availability of care in communities and fund the living wage for all frontline care sector staff.

“We will be working closely with all integrated partnerships and expect them to use this substantial funding to tackle the issue of delayed discharge once and for all.”