More than 150 patients were waiting to be released from Fife hospitals under delayed discharge last month.
There were 156 delayed discharges in the region on January 15, including 61 patients who had been waiting more than six weeks.
The figures show a marked increase since October, when there were 103 delayed discharges in the system and 26 cases missing the Scottish Government’s six-week target.
George Cunningham, general manager of Kirkcaldy and Levenmouth Community Health Partnership, revealed the statistics this week.
NHS Fife said the figures did not reflect the measures being taken to tackle the delayed discharge backlog.AgreementAround the time the figures were put together, the health board and Fife Council reached an agreement to contribute £250,000 each, with the £500,000 being invested in funding care packages for those awaiting release from hospital.
The money will be spent by April to bring the bed blocking figures down. A spokeswoman for NHS Fife said the investment should prevent patients waiting longer than six weeks to be discharged.
She said, “Fife Council and NHS Fife’s funding of £500,000 is specifically focused on addressing the current delayed discharge situation for those who have waited over six weeks and for individuals awaiting discharge to their own home.
“As has been previously stated, funding issues have been resolved for those waiting over six weeks. Numbers waiting for nursing and residential homes, as well as those waiting for home care, are set to reduce.”
Last week, a freedom of information request by the Labour Party showed that 93 Fife patients died in hospital last year after being passed fit for release.
Mr Cunningham said the cases would be looked at in more detail and the findings considered by NHS Fife’s clinical governance committee.
Photo used under Creative Commons licence courtesy of Flickr user Rodrigo Basaure.