Revealed: The shocking scale of bed blocking in NHS hospitals – and it’s costing the NHS billions

The drive to cut NHS waiting lists is being hampered by bed blockers which now cost taxpayers more than £2 billion a year, a study has found.

More than 12,000 hospital beds are occupied every day by patients who no longer have a medical need to stay, but who cannot leave.

The sheer scale of the crisis – which amounts to the closure of 26 entire hospitals – is forcing managers to cancel operations and causing ambulance delays because there are so few beds for new admissions.

A total of 15.7 million bed days have been lost to bed blocking over the past three and a half years, according to a new analysis of NHS figures.

This equates to an average of 12,008 beds per day over the study period, but the problem has worsened significantly over this period: an increase of 59 percent, from an average of 8,039 per day in April 2021 to 12,772 in April 2024.

Many patients admitted to a ward are waiting for a place in a care home or for a care package that can be arranged at home.

Charities warn that the longer older people stay in hospital, the more they deteriorate and the greater the risk they are of never regaining independence.

Leading health think tank King’s Fund has calculated that it costs the NHS £395 a night to care for someone who could be made redundant.

More than 12,000 hospital beds are occupied every day by patients who no longer have a medical need to stay, but cannot leave (file image)

It means the direct costs of delayed discharges could total £6.2 billion in the three and a half years since NHS England first published delayed discharge figures – or £4.7 million per day.

An estimated 6.34 million people were on the NHS waiting list for 7.54 million treatments at the end of October, according to the latest figures.

Healthcare leaders and patient groups are lamenting the government’s inability to fix social care and calling for more funding and a long-term plan.

Liberal Democrats health and social care spokesperson Helen Morgan, who analyzed the NHS England figures (should be retained), said millions of NHS bed days have been ‘needlessly wasted’ because they have failed to recognize that the social care that the NHS ‘needs to ‘work hand in hand’.

She added: ‘The consequences are devastating, with millions of people unable to get the treatment they deserve, while patients are stuck in corridors and waiting rooms waiting for a bed.

‘The new government cannot allow this unacceptable situation to continue any longer.

‘They urgently need to have cross-party conversations on social care and give hospitals the thousands of extra beds they need.’

An estimated 6.34 million people were on the NHS waiting list for 7.54 million treatments at the end of October, latest figures show (file image)

Rachel Power, chief executive of The Patients Association, said: ‘The failure to get social care right continues to have serious consequences for the whole of the NHS.

‘If people who are well enough to leave hospital cannot do so because the right support is not available in their community, this impacts everyone.

‘It can lead to worse outcomes for people stuck in hospital and contribute to a loss of independence, especially for the elderly.

‘In the meantime, this is putting pressure across the system – from ambulances waiting outside A&E and unable to respond to new emergencies, to patients having to wait longer for hospital admission.

‘Until we see a fully funded social care strategy and the long-promised shift to care closer to home, both patients and NHS staff will continue to face these unnecessary pressures and delays.’

The direct costs of delayed discharges could reach £6.2 billion in the three and a half years since NHS England first published delayed discharge figures – or £4.7 million per day (file image)

Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director at Age UK, described the figures as a ‘huge concern’.

She added: ‘The longer an older person is confined in hospital, the less likely they are to make a full recovery and maintain their independence.’

Saffron Cordery, interim chief executive of NHS Providers, said: ‘With hospital wards already close to capacity due to intense winter pressures, including a surge in cases of flu and other serious viruses, the NHS needs every bed it has.

‘Politicians can no longer put social care aside.

‘We need urgent reform and adequate funding for social care to really get to grips with the worrying number of delayed discharges across the NHS.’

Cllr David Fothergill, chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, said: ‘Councils work tirelessly to help people leave hospital safely, but the pressures they face – including staff shortages, rising demand and inadequate funding – mean this is becoming increasingly challenging. ‘

An NHS England spokesperson said: ‘With the NHS busier than ever before entering winter, delays in patient discharges are a real problem. That’s why we are working closely with colleagues in social care and local government to ensure patients are discharged. as soon as they are medically fit.’

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: ‘This Government will tackle delayed discharges to ensure people do not stay in hospital longer than necessary and to free up hospital beds as part of our ten-year health plan.’