ENDING delayed discharges must be a top priority for the new Health Secretary, Scottish Labour has said. 

The party pointed to figures showing around £646 million of public money was "squandered" due to the problem between 2014/15, when Nicola Sturgeon became First Minister, and 2018/19. 

Figures also show that as many as 2.7m bed days have been lost during that time.

With delayed discharges persisting, the party said, the current cumulative cost is likely to be far higher.

In early 2015, then Health Secretary Shona Robison said she wanted to “eradicate delayed discharge out of the system”.

But in 2018/19, the estimated cost of delayed discharges in NHS Scotland was £134m, while the year before it was £122m.

Scottish Labour has now called on Humza Yousaf, who was given responsibility for the health portfolio following Ms Sturgeon's recent reshuffle, to make ending delayed discharges a top priority.

The party's deputy leader and health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said SNP ministers had failed to "get to grips" with the issue.

She said: "That well over half a billion pounds has been lost due to delayed discharge is a scandal.  

"In 2015, Shona Robison promised to ‘eradicate’ delayed discharge – six years and three health ministers later, it’s time for the First Minister to reflect on this failure. 

"We cannot have patients left in hospital unnecessarily and the public purse drained due to poor provision of care for those leaving hospital.

"Ending this costly and dangerous practice must be top of Humza Yousaf’s priority list as he enters his new role.  

"SNP health minister after SNP health minister, including Nicola Sturgeon, has failed to get to grips with delayed discharge.  

"We need action to improve the care available to those leaving hospital and we need it now.”  

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We are committed to safely reducing delayed discharge because being at home or in a community setting is in the best interests of people who no longer require hospital treatment.

“The annual delayed discharge report, published in 18 May 2021 shows a 34 per cent reduction in bed days lost due to delays between March 2020 and March 2021.

“Clearly steps taken during the pandemic to protect patients and protect the NHS are being shown in these findings.

"We are clear that decisions about care and treatment should always be clinically based, in the individual’s best interests and taken in consultation with the individual or their families and representatives.”

It came as Mr Yousaf said it will take "years" for Scotland's NHS to recover from the coronavirus pandemic. 

He said the re-mobilisation and recovery of the health service is his "immediate focus" and he will work across party lines to achieve it.

Mr Yousaf was asked about NHS waiting times and cancelled operations during an interview on BBC Scotland's The Sunday Show. 

Public Health Scotland figures show that at the end of last year, more than 100,000 patients in Scotland were waiting for a key diagnostic test, an increase of 15.3% on December 2019.

The number of planned operations carried out in Scottish hospitals had also plummeted. 

Meanwhile, an estimated 7,000 people in Scotland are believed to be living with undiagnosed cancer as a result of the "devastating impact" of the pandemic on cancer services.

Mr Yousaf said such statistics were “extremely concerning, not just for the wider public but for us in government”.

He said the Government was "very, very aware" of the impact of these issues.

He added: "I have a family member who has been awaiting an operation themselves, and I know the impact it's having on them."

He said the SNP will bring forward a recovery plan and will work with other parties in Holyrood. 

Mr Yousaf said: "Re-mobilisation of the NHS is one of my big, big priorities."

Asked if it would take "the whole of this Parliament before we get back to where we were previously", the Health Secretary responded: "Look, I won't lie to you, it's going to take years. 

"I can't promise you that we're going to be in a place where we were pre-pandemic, and even better than that - I want us to be even better than we were pre-pandemic - I can't promise you that's going to happen overnight. 

"But I also won't gaze into a crystal ball and pretend I can give you the answer right now of when we'll get to where we were pre-pandemic either. 

"But I promise you two things. 

"I promise you that this is an immediate focus, the re-mobilisation and the recovery of the NHS. 

"I also promise you that I'm going to put political differences aside. 

"I know that there are many in our chamber, but they will be put aside for the focus on this."