Bed-blocking in the NHS cost £2.66billion over the past year, according to figures highlighting the financial toll of delayed hospital discharges in England. The report attributes the sharp rise in costs to ministers having "taken their eye off the ball" on the issue, with patients medically fit to leave hospital nonetheless remaining in beds for extended periods, tying up capacity and straining NHS finances.

Delayed discharges occur when patients are ready to leave hospital but cannot do so, often due to a lack of available social care, care home places or support at home. This bottleneck keeps beds occupied by people who no longer need acute hospital care, adding pressure elsewhere in the system, including longer waits in A&E and for planned operations. The full article did not provide further breakdown of the figures beyond the headline total.