Over 10 per cent of beds are blocked at Eastbourne DGH

More than 10% of beds at Eastbourne District General Hospital are blocked by people who do not need to be in hospital, but have no provision for their care when they return home.

Other areas affected in the south east are Medway NHS Trust, which has 9%of beds blocked and Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust, which has 6% of beds taken up.

At Eastbourne District General Hospital, which is run by East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust, Dr Hugh McIntyre, a practising clinician, said bed-blocking was a growing problem.

Hospital 'always busy'

He said: "Winter peaks used to be an issue, but now we find the hospital is busy the whole time.

"What we see is an increasing number of older people who are quite dependent upon care - these patients do not need hospital care and can suffer if they stay too long in hospital."

He said the impact of bed-blocking was threefold - on the patient, on the casualty unit and on hospital targets for surgery.

He said: "The longer an individual is in hospital, the greater the chance is that they will not return to their independence.

"Secondly, if the hospital is full of patients waiting to leave, we have difficulty admitting acute emergencies and so A&E may become full.

"Thirdly, with the targets we are now expected to meet, bed-blocking can affect our ability to bring in surgical patients, so we have to cancel operations."

Capacity 'is an issue'

East Sussex councillor Keith Glazier, social services committee chairman, said: "We have been working very hard with our health colleagues over the last year to predict and to prevent this - capacity is one of the issues.

"Last year, East Sussex hospitals and the social services department cleared more beds than anywhere else in the south east, so it can be done.

"We're never going to get to a situation where there aren't beds blocked, simply because once a person is declared medically fit, we need to assess their needs and then put into place home care packages.

"It's a joint problem for health and social services, which have different pressures - mainly about funding.

"To keep people in their own homes or in a specialist service, which is where they would much rather be, than in hospital, is not a cheap option, but we are working towards that."