Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many beds were occupied by patients ready to be discharged in NHS hospitals in Dorset; and how many of these patients had been awaiting discharge for more than (a) three days, (b) seven days and (c) a month on the most recent date for which data is available.

On 31 January 2024, there were 308 patients with No Criteria To Reside (NCTR) in acute hospitals in Dorset, 77 patients in Dorset County Hospital Foundation Trust and 231 patients in University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust.

NHS England publishes data on the proportion of patients discharged on their discharge-ready date and the lengths of delay for those discharged after this date, up to a delay of 21 days or more. The latest published figures are for December 2023.

For Dorset County Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, 91% of patients were discharged on their discharge-ready date. Of the 9% of patients who were discharged after this date, 47.6% were delayed four or more days, 32% were delayed seven or more days, and 10.7% were delayed 21 or more days.

For University Hospitals Dorset Foundation Trust, 84.2% of patients were discharged on their discharge-ready date. Of the 15.8% of patients discharged after this date, 50.4% were delayed four or more days, 33.5% were delayed seven or more days, and 9% were delayed 21 or more days.