A Fife grandmother has spoken of her frustration at being kept in hospital more than six weeks after she should have been sent home.
Doctors informed Irene Fitchet that she was ready to be discharged from Ninewells Hospital in Dundee on July 25.
The medical staff told her that Fife Council had been informed of her status but they needed to wait for a home help being arranged before she could leave the hospital.
After suffering a bad fall at her home in Tayport on July 13, Mrs Fitchet damaged nerves in the right side of her body, meaning she cannot lift her right arm.
Doctors hope her nerves will recover in the next few months.
In the meantime, she requires help washing and dressing and the meals on wheels service she previously received to be restarted.
“It’s not a huge amount of help that I need,” she said from her private room on Ward 18. “I can’t believe I’ve had to wait so long. All I need is some assistance washing and dressing in the morning and my meals service restarted.
“There’s no point me occupying a bed and giving me meals when I could be doing the same thing at home.
“It’s bed blocking. There are one or two other people here from Fife in the same situation. I don’t understand why it’s taking so long to get me home.”
The council’s social work department claims they were only informed the pensioner required home help assistance on August 21.
Meanwhile, medical staff at the hospital have told Mrs Fitchet that the local authority was informed she was ready for discharge four weeks earlier.
She said she had no problem with the level of care she has received at Ninewells Hospital, which she described as “excellent”.
“I keep being told that there are no services available, that there’s nobody there to come and give the care,” said Mrs Fitchet, who has lived alone since her husband Melville died 17 years ago.
“It’s frustrating. There’s nothing wrong with Ninewells the staff here have bent over backwards to help me but naturally I’d much rather be in my own house.”
Fife Council’s social work service manager Martin Thom said the system shared with the NHS was only updated around two weeks ago and that his department was now working to get Mrs Fitchet home as soon as possible.
He said: “To enable us to do this we have a joint system with the NHS in place where details of people who are identified as ready for discharge are recorded.
“Details for Mrs Fitchet were added to this system by NHS Tayside on August 21.
“We have carried out our assessment and a care package is being put together now which will allow Mrs Fitchet to leave hospital at the earliest possible date.”