THOUSANDS of sick patients have been admitted to the wrong hospital department in Scotland this year because of space shortages – and some have been moved 10 times or more during one hospital stay.

New figures show on one winter's day alone more than 500 medically unwell patients were "boarding" on wards intended for other patients – such as those undergoing planned surgery or gynaecological treatment.

Even on the first Monday in May more than 100 people had to be farmed out because the medical wards were too full.

Experts say housing patients in the wrong department puts them at risk because their immediate care is from staff who are not trained in their condition. Physicians talk about going on "safari" hospital rounds, trying to find patients who should be in their department. Boarding patients can miss out on timely reassessment and end up staying in hospital longer, facing greater risks of infection and pressure sores. The problem also takes consultants away from the wards they should be manning. Many of the patients affected are elderly.

The Herald, which is running a series of articles questioning if Scottish hospitals can cope with the growing number of older patients, asked health boards about the number of medical patients boarding in non-medical beds for the weeks starting Monday, January 7, and Monday, May 6.

Their replies showed that, on January 7, 561 patients were boarding, excluding patients in Tayside, Ayrshire and Arran, Forth Valley and Borders where the data was either provided in a different format or was not available. For Monday, May 6, the number of boarders was 103.

Health boards were also asked the maximum number of times a single medical patient had moved wards this year. Most did not log this information, but in Fife a patient had been shifted 13 times, including moves in and out of intensive care and moves for different investigations and treatment. In Lanarkshire, a patient in Hairmyres was moved nine times and in Monklands 10. These patients were complex and also had spells in different forms of critical care.

Dr Neil Dewhurst, president of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE), said the number of individual bed moves were "symptomatic of systems stretched to breaking point".

He added: "The RCPE remains concerned about boarding and particularly the effects on patient safety. Boarding results in poorer quality patient care and increases the pressure on medical teams. It is shown to have negative outcomes on patients including increased length of stay, re-admission and the development of medical complications including healthcare acquired infections and blood clots.

"The problem of boarding is not going away – we need to ensure an adequate number of appropriate beds for acute care and that the whole health and social care system works together to optimise patient flow."

Theresa Fyffe, Scotland director for the Royal College of Nursing, said patients were being moved from one bed to another because hospitals were dealing with more people without enough beds. She said: "Health boards are trying to shift more care from our hospitals out into the community, but this needs different ways of working and investment in nursing and other staff to enable this to happen."

The RCPE and NHS Scotland are already working together to tackle boarding, although Health Secretary Alex Neil said more action was required.

Mr Neil said: "We recognise peaks in demand may require use of beds flexibly to some extent, however we are keen to ensure NHS boards are managing their capacity and ensuring that for the majority of patients they are admitted to the right beds at the right time with the right staff."

He added: "Scotland is the first country in the UK to deal with the issue of boarding and I am sure it will further improve the quality of care in our hospitals."

Caroline Inwood, operational division director of nursing for NHS Fife, explained patients with complex care needs can require a number of moves within the hospital to ensure they have clinically appropriate care in the correct setting at each stage of their illness. She said: "Some patients who are very ill may require general ward care as well as intensive care and step down care which can involve a number of moves and will reflect the progress of their condition and return to health."