West Lothian posts zero patient delays

No patients in West Lothian are waiting longer than necessary to be discharged from hospital, according to figures released this week.

Official figures published by ISD Scotland show that the number of patients in West Lothian delayed in hospital has been at zero for the past two censuses, in January 2012 and October 2011.

Since the census in July 2009, only one patient in West Lothian has been recorded as being delayed for longer than six weeks in hospital.

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In October 2005, a total of 14 patients were delayed, and in January 2006, 17 patients stayed longer than necessary.

In January this year, West Lothian was the only mainland area, alongside Orkney and Shetland, which had no patients delayed in hospital.

Delayed discharges usually occur when patients – often elderly – are ready to leave hospital following treatment but do not have a suitable care package in place.