Bed blocking remains a huge problem in Grampian and continues to get worse.
January was the first time bed blocking figures passed three figures and were the highest since the start of records in January 2011.
The latest official statistics showed that in January 115 patients were delayed in hospital for more than four weeks after they were ready to be sent home, up from 97 October in 2014.
The situation has reached the situation where the leaders of NHS Grampian and all north-east councils are planning a special summit this spring.
Delayed discharges happen when patients are ready to leave hospital but their necessary care, support and accommodation arrangements are not yet in place.
Across Scotland the number of patients stuck in hospital rose slightly again, up from 321 in October 2014 to 329 in January this year – with Grampian representing more than a third of the total.
The biggest problem with delayed discharge was in Aberdeen with 76 people waiting more than four weeks, followed by Aberdeenshire with 36 and Moray with 3.
In a joint statement with councils NHS Grampian said delayed discharge was a complex issue with many factors contributing to any individual having to stay in hospital when ready to go home.
“It is deeply frustrating for a patient – along with their family and professionals caring for them – to have to remain in hospital when they are medically fit to leave,” it said.
“All three of our partnership areas (City, ‘Shire and Moray) have joint groups where both council and NHS staff work side by side to reduce the number of people who are delayed in hospital.
“All areas have action plans which deal with short, medium and long term approaches. We share a very strong belief that there are no simple fixes to this challenge and improvements will take time to implement.
“Some of this challenge relates to the number of people who wish to follow a career in care; we have a number of schemes which are aiming to make a career within care more attractive and more sustainable but these are long term changes.”
The statement said they were planning a summit in the spring involving the “most senior members” of the four partners to explore how to build on existing work.