Bed blocking at Shropshire's two main hospitals 'needs tackling'

Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust chief executive Peter Herring said the "bed blocking" is having a major knock on effect at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and Telford's Princess Royal and needed to be tackled as a matter of urgency.

A report which went before the trust board at a meeting at the Princess Royal yesterday said the Fit to Transfer list – people who are well enough to leave hospital but cannot as there is nowhere for them to go – was averaging 85, more than double what it should be.

It says: "The main focus is the reduction in the Fit to Transfer list and that has not been delivered.

"The numbers on the list in January are averaging 85 and for nationally reported delayed transfers of care there has been a 22.6 per cent increase in comparison to the same period last year."

Mr Herring told the board: "The average is 85 but on several days we have been at 100 and above, and we peaked at 125 last Tuesday.

"Progress is slow and it is a real challenge. It is vital the situation changes in the next couple of weeks."

He said it is causing routine operations to be cancelled – costing the trust money it should be receiving for them and long waits on trolleys in A&E because there were just not enough beds available. Chief operating officer Debbie Kadum said the trust was trying "every which way" to speed up the discharge process.

She said there were a number of reasons for bed blocking, including a shortage of beds at nursing homes and community hospitals and care packages not being available to allow patients to move back home with help.

In November it was revealed that bed blocking at the two hospitals had reached record levels.

Mr Herring and trust board chairman Peter Latchford pledged to hold crisis talks with the management of Shropshire and Telford clinical commissioning groups in an attempt of finding ways to resolve the problem.