INVERCLYDE Royal has been battling bed shortages after the number of patients increased over the winter. 

A sharp rise in the number of frail patients and those with respiratory illnesses being admitted has putstrain on all services during the prolonged cold spells.

A new report to the health and social care committee highlighted overcrowding in A&E because of problems with bed availability.

There was also a knock-on effect for community services, with a spike in referrals for care at home.

In January alone 206 individuals were assessed for home help.

But in spite of the problems the health and social care partnership say they are on track with their target to get medically fit patients out of hospital at the earliest opportunity.

Health and social care director Louise Long said: “As well as the adverse weather that we experienced in March, there was a high level of respiratory illness across the general population and high rates of acuity amongst the frailer members of our community.

“There was a great deal of pressure on Inverclyde Royal Hospital in terms of presentations and length of stay due to patients being unwell and not fit for discharge.”

Her report into winter planning also set out a need to work with other NHS services and improve.

She added: “There was a recognised issue around patient flow and the need to work with the Scottish Ambulance Service and NHS 24 to get the right balance between prioritising access to hospital and discharge support to minimise ambulance turnaround problems, and crowding in A&E due to bed availability problems linked to time of day and overall discharge support.”

The Scottish Government has ordered a review of local arrangements to assess where lessons could be learned.

Inverclyde HSCP has one of the best records for reducing the number of patients forced to remain in hospital after doctors have deemed them fit to go home.

Ms Long said: “At this point, with the information for February and March not yet available, it appears that Inverclyde was able to sustain a high level of performance, minimising unnecessary hospital admissions and facilitating timely and safe discharges.”