HOSPITALS across Scotland were so full this summer that more than 3,300 patients had to be looked after in the wrong department for their condition.

The practice of "boarding" patients, which has been shown to increase their risk of dying, was being used regularly by health boards nationwide because of bed shortages in the warmest months of the year, according to an investigation by The Herald.

The research, conducted as part of our NHS: Time for Action campaign, also showed hundreds of patients were stuck in hospital when they were well enough to leave and bed occupancy rates ran as high as 98.7 per cent.

Theresa Fyffe, director of the Royal College of Nursing Scotland, said the figures were symptoms of a "sick system". She added: "It's time for the Scottish Government to stop hiding behind sound bites about protecting the NHS's budget, and actually make the decisions that mean sufficient resources can be put in place to meet ever-growing patient demand."

All mainland health boards were asked a series of questions to create a picture of how well hospitals coped during July and August. They revealed:

l 3,309 patients were boarded in the wrong hospital department for their condition because of capacity shortages.

l 1,706 patients were confined in a bed when they were well enough to be discharged in July and 1703 in August.

l 124 patients who were well enough to be discharged had been waiting for more than six weeks to go home in July and 122 in August

l 105 patients lingered in an A&E for more than 12 hours - most of them in Lanarkshire.

l On average more than 98 per cent of beds were full in the Scottish capital's Western General hospital and almost 95 per cent were taken at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.

In the past, such signs the NHS was struggling were more typical of the winter months, when flu and vomiting viruses are more common. However, staff have noted for years that the system is strained all year round.

Ms Fyffe said: "Our ageing­ ­population means pressure on health and care services is growing. These figures bear this out with so many patients stuck in hospital - during the relatively easier summer months - because there is no care home place available or care package in place for them. Admitting so many patients to the wrong ward, just so they get admitted at all, is another symptom of a sick system. This is bad for patient care."

Some hospitals reported average bed occupancy levels of around or below the often quoted optimum of 85 per cent. The figure for the Victoria Hospital in Fife was 80 per cent for July and 82 per cent for the following month.

However, more than 400 patients with medical problems still had to be looked after in the wrong hospital department. Bed occupancy rates in Glasgow also hovered below 85 per cent in July and August but 681 patients were boarded.

Professor Derek Bell, president of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, said the problem was not necessarily one of bed shortages, but of beds being available where they were most needed. He added there was increasing recognition that hospital systems had to change to meet changing demand.

He added: "If you go back a few years, Scotland was ahead of the game on this but we just lost a bit of ground. With hospitals it is about what you do 365 days a year, and if you take your eye off the ball it is very easy for things to function less well than you want. I think a refocusing and re-energising are what we need."

Scottish Government research has shown patients who board spend longer in hospital and face a greater risk of death than those treated on the right ward.

A Government spokesman said: "There can be no doubt of the challenges Scotland's NHS is facing as it treats more people than ever before, with many patients presenting with more complex, multiple illnesses as a result of Scotland's aging population. This is at the same time as the budget we receive to fund vital frontline public services like the NHS is being cut by Westminster.

"It is welcome that delayed discharges have reduced by more than two-thirds under this government, but we must continue to work to bring down delays yet further."

l NHS Grampian failed to provide the information requested.