Only half of patients deemed well enough to be sent home from the Royal Devon University Healthcare Trust are actually discharged, new figures show.

The Patients Association said the rise in delayed discharges is "worsening pressures on emergency care", and called for "urgent intervention".

It comes as the number of norovirus cases has surged across England, increasing pressure on busy NHS wards and bed capacity.

NHS England figures show an average of 286 patients at Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust were considered well enough to be discharged each day in the week to 19 January.

However, only 51% of them were actually discharged, meaning an average of 140 adult hospital beds remained taken each day by medically fit patients.

This was down from a daily average of 141 the previous week, but up from 135 the month before.

Meanwhile, across England, an average of just 41% of patients deemed well enough to be discharged actually left hospital each day.

It means almost one in seven (13,710) adult hospital beds were taken up by medically fit people each day – up from 13,585 the week before and the highest number so far this winter.

Delayed discharges occur when social care, support or accommodation is not yet in place yet for patients to be transferred into the community.

Rachel Power, CEO of the Patients Association, said the rise in delayed discharges is "worsening pressures on emergency care", and called on the NHS and Government to intervene.

Ms Power said: "The NHS and Government must urgently address the root causes of delayed discharge.

"This bottleneck, driven by insufficient social care capacity and bed shortages, is not just a problem for hospitals but for the entire NHS, limiting the ability to admit new patients and worsening pressures on emergency care.

"Without urgent intervention, we risk prolonging the cycle of crisis across our health and care system."

Meanwhile, norovirus cases in hospitals soared across England, although levels were still below the previous month.

An average of 781 adult beds were filled each day by patients with diarrhoea and vomiting or norovirus-like symptoms. Of those, one were at Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

NHS England said norovirus levels in hospitals were 80% higher than the same period last year, while the figures also show 96% of all adult hospital beds were occupied in the week to 19 January.

Rory Deighton, acute director at the NHS Confederation, said the NHS "is in a state of vulnerability".

Commenting on the rising number of delayed discharges, he added: "When this happens, bottlenecks can occur with patients queuing up at the front doors of hospitals while others are unable to be discharged out the back doors of hospitals.

"NHS leaders and their teams have been kept with their noses pressed to the grindstone as they deliver vital care and support to patients deep into winter.

"But it’s clear as day that the NHS remains under considerable strain with the ripple effect of pressures from winter viruses still being felt across all parts of the system, including primary care."

Saffron Cordery, interim chief executive of NHS Providers, said norovirus and respiratory viruses are putting the NHS under great pressure as the demand for hospital beds keeps increasing.

Ms Cordery said "nasty winter bugs are still wreaking havoc on the NHS", with the high levels of delayed discharges only increasing the pressure on hospitals.