A SOUTH Lakeland business has launched an online information service which it believes could go a long way to solving the bed blockage crisis in hospitals across the country.

Known as ukcare.net, the initiative will list thousands of registered residential nursing and care homes and include up-to-date details of homes with vacant beds.

It means social services and health authority bosses can find out which public and private sector homes based anywhere in the country have vacancies for patients ready to leave hospital.

The service, which is the brainchild of Sedbergh businessman Nigel Close, will also enable people to freely compare the range of facilities available at residential homes in any area.

Mr Close, a partner in the successful Beamsmoor Home for the Elderly in Sedbergh, has first-hand experience of the challenges facing care homes.

He believes the industry has been crying out for such an initiative, because most care homes operate individually and lack of collective 'voice' to influence decisionmakers.

"Care providers throughout the UK are constantly berated by Government and their Trade Press for not having the ability to unify and formulate consensus of opinion across the sector," he said.

Through ukcare.net, he hopes home owners will discuss and vote on industry issues which can then be raised with local and national government.

Care businesses can also source products from specialist suppliers on the web, and read industry news from the care press.

Some 450 care homes have so far come on board and Mr Close has high hopes that many more will join when a marketing campaign moves into top gear.

Mr Close has recruited a sales manager and expects to take on a team of telesales staff to market the free online service, which he described as a "one-stop portal for the care industry."

He is moving his other business interests, including estate agency Cobble Country, to bigger premises in Sedbergh's Main Street to create more space for the new venture.

A conference and training room is being set up to demonstrate the benefits of the service to national and regional care industry organisations and associations.

Cumbria Social Services officials have seen a presentation on ukcare.net, which has been in development since the end of last year.

It is also attracting interest from other local authorities as far afield as London.

The business also impressed judges in the Sunday Times 3i Technology Catapult competition, reaching the final 20 entries shortlisted from an initial 1,000 applicants, although it failed to win one of the top prizes for the brightest ideas using technology.