Patients spend months waiting to be discharged from Sandwell and City hospitals
Patients have spent months longer at Sandwell and City Hospitals than planned - with one having their discharge date put back by a massive 160 days.
Figures showed at least 16 patients had planned dates for leaving hospital put back by more than 50 days between January and June.
It comes as the trust which runs Sandwell Hospital continues to struggle to meet A&E waiting times amid fears of a looming winter care crisis.
A performance table for consultants at the trust on discharge dates has been published, showing how many patients stayed on the wards longer than expected.
It revealed at least three patients had been kept in hospital more than four months after their estimated discharge date. The longest wait was 160 days - five and a half months.
Hospitals and councils have come under pressure to free up beds as quickly as possible.
Sandwell NHS chiefs admitted they wanted to improve discharge estimates and apologised to those who had been kept waiting.
Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals Trust chief executive Toby Lewis said there needed to be a change in 'mindset' on estimated discharge dates.
The trust has failed to meet national A&E waiting time targets for the last two years.
A total of 87.5 per cent of patients were seen within the four hours during August, below the 95 per cent target.
Rachel Barlow, chief operating officer, said: “Patients and families want great care, and part of that is a realistic estimate of discharge.
"We want to improve our ability to predict and share discharge dates so that all parts of the health and social care system, including general practice, can work together to help.
“Our staff have done a great job in the last few weeks to improve reduce waiting times in our emergency departments in recent weeks and we all continue to focus on how we progress to meet the emergency care quality standards.
"We apologise to patients who have had to wait longer than we would like to be seen.
"We know we can reduce delays there by making our wards more efficient. That includes discharging patients safely when they are ready to go home and by discharging more people in the morning in daylight, rather than in the early evening.”
