ELDERLY patients, well enough to be discharged, are occupying more than 100 beds in Morecambe Bay hospitals, writes health reporter Michaela Robinson-Tate.

Figures just released show that last week, 101 beds - equivalent to more than three hospital wards - were being taken up by people unable to return home or move on to a care home.

Health chiefs say that not only are the elderly people not receiving appropriate care, but the beds are not available for other patients.

They are tackling the problem as a priority.

The numbers, which break down into 27 patients at Kendal's Westmorland General Hospital, 54 at Furness General Hospital in Barrow, and 20 at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary, have almost doubled in the last 12 months.

Some of the increase could be due to a change in the way the figures are calculated nationally.

However, Morecambe Bay Hospitals NHS Trust director of performance management and operations Graham Smith said this did not alter the fact that it was a major problem.

"It's obviously my prime concern that this is 101 people who have been medically cleared for discharge and therefore are receiving inappropriate care," he said.

"These people - through no cause of their own - are occupying beds, and therefore creating financial pressure and bed pressures."

Mr Smith said he was particularly concerned the problem was this serious in August, in advance of the expected winter pressures.

Staff are currently researching how long the patients have been stuck in hospital, and for some, the delay extends to many months.

Mr Smith said the trust would be holding urgent talks with Cumbria County Council, Morecambe Bay Health Authority and Morecambe Bay Primary Care Trust.

The reasons for the delay can include a lack of social services funding for a care home place or care at home; a shortage of care home places; and individual choice, or waiting for a bed in a specified care home.

Statistics show ' delayed discharge' is widespread, and in England, in the first quarter of the year, one in eight hospital beds occupied by a patient over the age of 75 was blocked because of delays in discharging the patient to a care home.

MBHA director of planning and development Stephen Parry said in addition to the 101 patients, a further 40 NHS beds were being taken up across the Bay by patients with mental illness or learning disabilities who were ready for discharge.

He said the problem was one of five priority issues the health authority was tackling to ensure the Government's NHS Plan was implemented.

Nominated chief officer of watchdog body South Cumbria Community Health Council Judith Deft said the problem persisted despite large sums of money having been injected.