More hospital beds are now available for other patients

The move comes a month after a 62-year-old heart patient endured a six-day wait for a bed on a hospital trolley.

Herbert Edwards was admitted to the Great Western Hospital in the Wiltshire town, suffering from severe chest pains on 18 March.

By the time he left on 24 March he had spent 144 hours on a trolley in a converted ward as the �150m hospital's 541 beds were all occupied.

Julia Drown, MP for South Swindon said: "Swindon is very aware of the pressure on our hospital beds.

'Expanding services'

"Under the government's new system, if patients are unnecessarily delayed in hospital awaiting social services support then social services will pay for their care until a more suitable setting can be found.

"Although charging will not start until next January, allocation of the delayed discharge grant has been announced now so that local staff can get on with investing these extra resources in expanding older people's services.

"I hope this extra government funding will be invested in expanding services for older people to be cared for at their home and in other alternatives to hospital care."