There are approximately 4,000 beds blocked nationwide

The so-called bed blockers at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester are often elderly people waiting to go to already full nursing homes.

There are currently 90 patients there who have had operations and many of them should have been discharged months ago.

In some wards as many as one in three beds are occupied by bed-blocking patients.

One patient, 88-year-old Ethel Osman, has been stuck in the hospital for eight months.

She is on the waiting list for three nursing homes, while five others have turned her down either because they are full or because the rate that social services pay is not enough.

It is estimated that more than 4,000 elderly people remain in hospitals in England despite being fit to leave.

The government has proposed a bill which they hope will force local authorities to deal with the problem.

Under the Community Care (Delayed Discharges) Bill, local councils will face fines for failing to get elderly patients out of hospital quickly enough.