Patient spent 368 days in hospital - report

The patient at Chirk Community Hospital waited 368 days to be released, according to North Wales Community Health Council.

The information was found during 15 unannounced visits the council carried out earlier this year.

The report raises serious concerns over bed capacity, staffing levels, and extensive lengths of stay at hospitals across the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board area.

The hospital insists the alleged 368-day stay does not match its records, however the health council has stood by the figures.

The report said: "Delayed transfers of care is increasingly a factor in the stress on community hospitals.

"We see little evidence of progress being made in the NHS and social services tackling this problem together – despite legislation.

"There is a difference across the 14 community hospitals as to when the process of discharging patients begins.

"We were also told that there can be huge delays if patients are admitted to hospital from residential home or nursing homes."

Previous inspections in 2016 discovered problems in finding residential care for patients in Chirk, with home provision described as virtually no existent.

Other findings included half the hospitals having closures when the surveys were carried out, with only 442 of 521 in use on the inspection days.

In its response to concerns, the the health board has agreed to a joint discharge policy with six local authorities in the area, and said a number of patient delays is being conoted.

The response said: "The report highlights the national issues in recruitment of registered nurses and evidence of BCUHB's innovation in this area.

"The factors affecting staffing and other resources within the NHS are similar issues for local authority colleagues and those in the independent sector providing care home and domiciliary care services."

However the health board has strongly denied a patient faced a 368 wait in Chirk, as claimed by the health council.