How a pensioner stuck in a hospital bed because of SNP incompetence lost the ability to walk – Jackie Baillie

Jackie and Violet Thomas in happier times, before he found himself stuck in a hospital ward | Contributed

When John ‘Jackie’ Thomas, a 79-year-old pensioner from Dumfries and Galloway, was admitted to a specialist hospital unit for tests on December 5 last year, his wife, Violet, thought he would be ‘in and out’ in no time.

Jackie was diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a rare, progressive neurological condition, for which there is no cure. Symptoms include falling backwards and struggling to swallow – neither of which require specialist medical treatment to manage but do need good social care.

Three months ago, Jackie was deemed medically fit for discharge. But six months after he was first admitted, he remains stuck on the ward.

Staying in hospital has not improved his quality of life. Staff shortages meant there wasn’t capacity to provide physiotherapy, and Jackie soon ended up in bed, where he lost the muscle strength to walk. Given his swallowing difficulties, he struggled to eat hospital food.

READ MORE: Scotland’s social care system has reached 'breaking point' and is 'piling pressure' on NHS

After being diagnosed with a rare neurological condition Jackie Thomas, seen with his wife Violet, ended up stuck in a hospital bed where he lost the muscle strength to walk | contributed

‘I’m completely exhausted’

Now, 75-year-old Violet is doing a 60-mile round trip every day to visit him, just to ensure he eats his lunch.

The reason Jackie is still stuck in hospital is because, despite Violet adapting the house for his care, the council could not find any carers. And by the time Violet, through her own initiative, managed to find some, the care package Jackie had been awarded had been withdrawn.

As Violet put it: “Even though I’m completely exhausted, it feels like I have no choice but to continue my daily trips, sit by his bed, and wait for a carer to become available.”

READ MORE: More than 1,500 people have died awaiting hospital discharge, figures show

This is the misery behind just one of the nearly 2,000 cases of delayed discharge in Scotland. Keeping patients unnecessarily in hospital is not only distressing for them and their loved ones, it also makes no financial sense – delayed discharge cost NHS Scotland £440 million in 2024/25, according to an analysis by Audit Scotland.

That is, by coincidence, a very similar figure to the black hole faced by the Integration Joint Boards responsible for delivering social care.

READ MORE: Emergency medics 'crying out for help' as A&E waits hit worst level in 18 years

SNP refusing to pay carers enough

Successive SNP governments have failed to come up with a plan to make social care sustainable – culminating in the botched National Care Service Bill which cost £30m without paying for a single extra carer.

Perhaps it’s unsurprising that Violet, in a rural village, struggled to find carers – but even villages have shops and cafes, and garages staffed by working-aged people. The reality is that it’s hard to find carers because the Scottish Government doesn’t pay them enough.

This was underlined by the recent Budget, in which the SNP tried and failed to short-change care providers in delivering a pay uplift for the real living wage.

READ MORE: Woman stuck in hospital for more than 400 days amid bed blocking 'misery'

Carers support people at the most difficult times in their lives, yet the SNP expects them to do this for less than a supermarket worker would get stacking shelves. When the SNP sets out its Programme for Government in September, it must put social care front and centre.

That’s the only way to free up hospital beds and allow hospital staff to treat urgent cases. And that’s the only way to ensure that patients like Jackie can return to where they want to be – home.

Jackie Baillie is MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour’s deputy leader and her party’s spokesperson for health