SERIOUSLY ill patients may be dying unnecessarily as cuts in the number of acute beds mean they are routinely transferred into wards with less specialist care, Scots doctors have warned.

Consultants surveyed by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE) say the practice, known as "boarding" – moving patients from acute to general wards to make room for new admissions – has become the norm.

They raised fears this is jeopardising the recovery of patients and leading to them spending longer in hospital.

More than two-thirds of respondents to the survey said they believed boarding was having a negative effect on death rates and re-admissions among seriously ill patients.

Boarding typically takes place in winter months when hospitals are under pressure from influenza and seasonal infections.

But the survey – which polled 1356 Scots doctors in the last week in May – found 50% witnessed it first-hand in the previous two weeks. Some 80% said patients were routinely transferred around the hospital all year.

This was "inappropriate, places patients at risk and is difficult for the medical teams caring for them," said the RCPE, noting it could put patients at greater risk of complications such as blood clots or hospital-acquired infections due to delayed assessment and treatment.

Dr Neil Dewhurst, RCPE president, said: "In most hospitals, consultants have no alternative but to move patients on to other wards where they will receive less specialised care and which often results in delays.

"There is strong evidence this reduces the quality of care for patients and increases their stay.

"Boarding creates a vicious circle, delaying treatment and discharge for patients and adding to the workload of the healthcare teams caring for them."

RCPE believes the problem has been driven by a sustained rise in the number of seriously ill patients admitted to hospital, due to Scotland's ageing population, against cuts to the number of staffed beds in acute units.

Acute bed numbers have been falling in the past 10 years, from 18,029 in 2002 to 16,701 in 2011, or by 7.4%. The decline accelerated after the SNP came to power, with a 4.6% drop in acute beds between 2007-2011, or 804 beds.

Dr Jean Turner, executive director of Scotland Patients' Association, said she was "extremely concerned". She added: "This practice is confusing to frail and elderly people and contributes to a severe loss of continuity of care."

Theresa Fyffe, director of the Royal College of Nursing Scotland, said her organisation supported greater community-based care, the main driver behind cuts in bed numbers.

However, she added it was "unacceptable for patients to be shunted from one inappropriate ward to another because of a lack of beds in the ward they need".

She said that community nurses were already struggling to cope with demand, and added: "Hospital beds cannot be closed until services to treat very unwell people at home are in place.

"Unless there is some serious investment in community nursing and other services, the revolving door syndrome of people ending up in hospital – in inappropriate wards in many cases – as they can't get the care they need at home will continue."

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said consultant numbers have risen 18% since September 2007, with mortality rates in hospitals down 9.5% between January 2008 and December 2011 – suggesting care was safer.

She said occupancy levels have remained virtually stable over the past decade – from 80.8% in 2002 to 81.9% in 2011 – while the average length of stay in hospital declined from 6.5 days to 5.3 days over the same period.

However, she said the concerns were taken "very seriously", adding: "The Cabinet Secretary for Health has already asked the Chief Medical Officer Sir Harry Burns to meet with the RCPE to discuss these findings and report back to her urgently."