Delayed discharges in NHSScotland annual
Annual summary of occupied bed days and census figures: data to March 2025

About this release

This release by Public Health Scotland (PHS) presents a summary of delayed discharge information across NHSScotland from July 2016 up to March 2025.

The information provided includes annual statistics on bed days occupied by people whilst delayed in their discharge and the average number of people delayed by reason for delay at the monthly census point (the last Thursday of the month) at Scotland, health board and local authority level.  In addition there are monthly breakdowns of this data at Scotland level.

Timely discharge from hospital is an important indicator of quality and is a marker for person-centred, effective, integrated and harm-free care.

A delayed discharge occurs when a hospital patient who is clinically ready for discharge from inpatient hospital care continues to occupy a hospital bed beyond the date they are ready for discharge. Note that the data used to derive these statistics are only collected for people aged 18 years and over who were clinically ready for discharge.

Delayed discharge figures in NHSScotland have been affected by measures put in place to respond to COVID-19, therefore statistics for 2020/21 and 2021/22 may not be directly comparable with other years. The marked fall in delayed discharges during 2020 is likely to be due to patients being moved out of hospital to increase capacity.

Main points

• In the financial year ending 31 March 2025, there were 720,119 days spent in hospital by people while they were delayed in their discharge. These delays represent an average 1,973 hospital beds per day used by people delayed in their discharge.
• 720,119 days is the highest annual figure reported since the current recording guidelines came into place in July 2016 and is an increase on the totals in 2023/24 (666,190) and 2019/20 (542,204), the last financial year before COVID-19 measures were introduced.
• For people who were discharged after a delay the average time spent in delay in 2024/25 is the same compared to 2023/24 (10 days) however this is an increase on 2019/20 (7 days).
• The reasons for delay (based on the monthly censuses across the financial year) are shown in the infographic below. (Note: Other includes funding, transport, patient and family related reasons). See the glossary in the main report for more information on the categories.

Background

The statistics presented in this publication are derived from the monthly delayed discharges data submitted by Health Boards to PHS.  Health Boards submit data on all individuals aged 18 years and over who were clinically ready for discharge and who experienced a period of delay in their discharge in that month and the reason for their delay.

This includes the number of people experiencing a delay in discharge from hospital at the monthly census point which is the last Thursday of each month and the number of hospital bed days spent as a delayed discharge in the calendar month.

The reason for delay figures are based on the census and are the average of the number of delays at each monthly census across the year. Complex delay reasons include delays due to adults with incapacity legislation.

Revised data definitions and national data requirements came into effect on 1 July 2016. These align census information and associated bed days and ensure more robust and consistent reporting across Scotland.

It should be noted that data presented in this publication are not directly comparable with other UK countries, due to differences in definitions and data reporting.

Further information

The next release of this publication will be in December 2025.