A SERIOUS bed blocking problem is adding to the struggle to treat patients in Scotland's capital, staff said yesterday.
Flagship hospital Edinburgh Royal Infirmary is said to be operating close to capacity and across NHS Lothian the equivalent of four 30-bed wards are full of patients "who should not be there".
Eddie Egan, employee director for NHS Lothian, said around 130 beds on an ongoing basis were occupied by patients well enough to go home but waiting for care packages in the community.
Mr Egan spoke the day after new NHS Lothian chief executive Tim Davison said Edinburgh hospital staff had been working in a pressure cooker environment with too few staff and rising patient numbers.
Mr Egan said: "Bed blocking is one of the significant pressures on staff.
"You end up with surgical patients and medical patients all in the wrong place.
"Staff have to go and find them and the patient ends up being looked after by people not au fait with their condition and having to issue their medication."
NHS Lothian is reeling from the waiting times fiddle scandal, which masked the true numbers of those waiting for treatment.
Professor Alex McMahon, director of strategic planning and primary care, said: "We are committed to working with social care colleagues in each of the four local authorities to eradicate the problems associated with delayed discharges.
"We hope that will result in an increase in the number of care home beds available and that extra resources will be made available through the Reshaping Care for Older People Change Fund to better support people at home and in the community."
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