BED-blocking is causing problems for Greater Manchester hospitals again.

One hospital has carried out a survey which reveals almost one in three beds are wasted on people who don't need acute care.

And Macclesfield hospital has one elderly patient who has refused to leave his hospital bed for the last two and a half years, costing the NHS é175,000.

Bed-blocking is when a patient is fit to be discharged but accommodation - such as in a nursing home - is not available or is not thought suitable by their family.

At least 80 out of 6,000 hospital beds are being wasted, but health bosses said that they were working with social services to resolve the issue.

Last year Manchester was given a é2.6m government grant to help 150,000 elderly people live independently at home, reducing emergency admissions and bed-blocking.

Stockport Foundation Trust has 26 patients whose discharges have been delayed with 21 waiting for places in specific nursing and residential homes.

Tied up

A study by Salford Royal Hospital Trust found that 30 per cent of its beds were "inappropriately" tied up by patients waiting for care assessment, places in care homes or transfer to other hospitals.

A spokesman for the trust said: "Last year, 3,269 bed days were lost as a result of beds being blocked in this way and 10 beds are currently affected."

At Tameside General Hospital, a patient's discharge was delayed by almost five months. Bosses said bed-blocking cost them 5,920 bed days last year.

South Manchester University Hospital Trust has 19 patients bed-blocking with 12 in acute beds. Since January, one patient has stayed in hospital for more than five weeks after they were fit to be discharged.

Pennine Acute Hospitals Trust, which runs hospitals in Rochdale, Bury, Oldham and north Manchester, has 11 people fit for discharge taking up beds.

There are 20 patients blocking beds in Central Manchester and Manchester Children Trust, which runs the Manchester Royal Infirmary and St Mary's Hospital for women and children.

Christie Hospital doesn't have any problems at the moment, but earlier this year a patient was delayed by a month because he contracted MRSA and the district hospital he was to be transferred to was full.

A spokesman for Greater Manchester strategic health authority said: "At the end of April, there were just 80 beds out of 6,000 across the region affected by delayed discharge, one of the lowest rates in the country."

Complex issue

Dr Kailash Chand, north west representative for the British Medical Association, said: "Everyone is trying to tackle bed-blocking but it is a very complex issue and still a major problem.

"We need to stop these very long stays in hospital, which are a chronic waste of resources, but we can't just push people on to the streets."

Stephanie Thomas, head of health for Unison in the north west, said: "There are many people in hospital who should not be there but they are waiting for a place in a home or for changes to be made to their own house and there is nowhere else for them to go.

"To really tackle the problem we need proper investment in integrated community care."

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