Three in four doctors say patients who are medically fit to leave hospital are being kept waiting for discharge, according to a new survey from the Royal College of Physicians (RCP).

The survey found that 76% of doctors reported delays in discharging patients, with 61% saying the delays were linked to social care or community support, and 56% reporting difficulty finding rehabilitation or care home places.

Beds lost to delays

NHS figures show more than 306,000 hospital bed days were lost to delayed discharges across England in August, up from around 265,000 in the same month last year.

Shane Roadnight, associate professor for perioperative practice at Buckinghamshire New University, warned that the delays put further pressure on waiting lists and could lead to more operations being cancelled at the last minute, Greatest Hits Radio reported.

Winter warning

A separate RCP snapshot survey of more than 550 doctors found only 10% were confident their hospital could safely manage winter pressures. NHS England figures released alongside it showed 2.3 million A&E attendances last month, more than 44,000 patients waiting over 12 hours to be admitted, and an average of 12,815 people a day remaining in hospital despite being medically fit to leave, the busiest September on record.

Dr Hilary Williams, the RCP's clinical vice president, said the NHS faced long-standing, systemic issues that "cannot be resolved overnight", and called for investment in social care to tackle delayed discharges and improve patient flow.