Bed blocking crisis: huge numbers of patients trapped in Yorkshire hospital beds amid flu outbreak and strikes

Figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats under Freedom of Information request (FoI) show that huge numbers of days are being lost in Yorkshire by healthy people who cannot be discharged, also known as bed blockers.

In 2024, some 224,936 days in Yorkshire hospitals were taken by patients who were fit enough to leave, but there was no space in the community.

The figure is coming down, but is still likely to be the tip of the iceberg as around two-thirds of Yorkshire trusts did not respond to the Lib Dems’ FoI request.

The scale of the issue is illustrated by the fact that one healthy patient was trapped at Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust for 127 days, more than a third of a year.

The Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust was worst affected with 101,788 bed days lost in 2024, the equivalent of 278 years of hospital space lost to patients ready to be discharged.

The Liberal Democrats are calling for a new dedicated winter discharge unit to stop thousands of patients being trapped unnecessarily in hospital over the festive period.

The party says the unit would use a new £90m fund to deliver a surge of locum doctors during discharge bottlenecks to free up doctors on shift, backed by extra patient transport, and 5,000 emergency social and home care packages during the Christmas period.

Liberal Democrat care and carers spokesperson Alison Bennett MP said: “This winter, thousands of families face the heartbreaking prospect of their loved one being trapped in hospital.

“And thanks to a perfect storm of strikes and chaos in the face of winter pressures, many more patients will spend Christmas in the hospital this year.

“Liberal Democrats are putting forward a bold plan to ensure thousands more patients get home for Christmas.

“Through round the clock transport, extra social care places and funding for extra locum shifts when they are most needed the government can and must get them home.

“Time is ticking - the Government has less than two weeks to save Christmas for families up and down the country.”

Mike Padgham, chair of North Yorkshire’s Independent Care Group of social care providers, said: “There is capacity for patients to be released. The issue is funding, with local authorities squeezed too much.

“They cannot purchase the social care space that is required, so bureaucracy gets in the way.

“Staying in hospital for longer doesn’t do you any good because you can pick up more illnesses and become more dependent.

“It could all be unlocked so easily, if only people looked at it more carefully. It would also cost less, in my view.

“It is incredibly frustrating that social care continues to be overlooked, particularly at a time when pressures such as the flu outbreak make support for the sector more critical than ever.”

The Government has committed to creating a national care service, however this will not happen until 2028 at the earliest as it is dependent on Baroness Louise Casey’s social care commission.

This Christmas, the NHS is being hit by a so-called “flu-nami”, a wave of influenza sweeping across the country, and also resident doctor strikes.

Hospital admissions for flu in Yorkshire have almost doubled in the last few weeks, while 14 people are in critical condition.

It comes with five days of strikes due to start this Wednesday. Home Secretary Shabana Madmoo told Sky News yesterday that the flu outbreak is “very serious” and resident doctors should accept the deal on offer to avert strike action as the NHS is under “huge strain”.

She said: “We’re already seeing the impact it’s having on hospitals across the country.

“We always plan every single year for a flu outbreak and that’s what happened this year.

“But of course, I think the numbers are a bit more serious this year and that’s why the Health Secretary, the Prime Minister and everyone across Government wants to make sure that the planned strikes by resident doctors do not go ahead.

“The NHS is under huge strain at the moment, and the last thing anybody needs to see are strikes in the NHS.”