Can interim care help ease Scotland's hospital bed shortage?

Many people who are medically ready to leave hospital are not able to go home because of pressures in social care.

Health and social care teams across Scotland are working to create more room in hospitals as we go into winter when it traditionally gets busier.

In Lothian, they are using care homes as an interim measure to help rehabilitate people before they can go back home.

Nineteen rooms at the Elsie Inglis Nursing Home in Edinburgh are being used in an effort to help people get out of hospital.

Archie McQuater, who spent seven months in The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh after one of his big toes was removed because of an infection, has finally got out of hospital and is now staying at the Elsie Inglis.

The 94-year-old has been in the care home for two months and is trying to improve his mobility so that he can return home.

Archie is among 200 people in Edinburgh who have been moved from a hospital to a care home between November 2021 and September 2022.

NHS Lothian estimates it has saved about 13,000 bed days in hospitals during that time.

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Source: BBC News, 2 November 2022