Medically fit take up 20% of area's hospital beds

Too many acute beds in hospitals in Lancaster, Kendal and Barrow are being used by patients fit to be discharged

More than one in five adult acute beds in an area's hospitals were occupied by medically fit people, figures have revealed.

In response to a parliamentary question from Liberal Democrat MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale Tim Farron, the government said 20.9% of beds at hospitals in Lancaster, Kendal and Barrow in September were occupied by people well enough to be discharged.

Farron said the situation at the hospitals, run by the University Hospital Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, was caused by a lack of social care in the area.

The Department of Health and Social Care said it had started preparing for this winter "earlier than ever before" and was "ramping up vaccination programmes".

A spokesperson said the department also said it had been "stress testing hospital plans working closely with care homes and local leaders".

"We've issued clear guidance to support faster, safer hospital discharge."

'Fixing social care'

In a letter to Health Secretary Wes Streeting, Farron said: "This is a tragedy both for patients stuck waiting in hospital corridors and also for people stuck in a hospital bed who want to be out living their lives, but don't have access to appropriate social care."

He added: "It is blindingly obvious that we cannot fix the problems with the NHS without fixing social care."

The figure for hospitals in Lancaster, Kendal and Barrow was 6.1% higher than the England average for September.

In January the government announced an independent commission into adult social care, led by Baroness Louise Casey, but it is not due to publish its final report until 2028.

Farron said plans to tackle the problem in social care needed to be brought forward.

"A big problem continues to be staffing shortages in the social care sector," he said.

"We desperately need to fix this, by paying care workers the wages that their incredible work deserves."

The department spokesperson said recommendations from the commission would be released next year.

"In the immediate term we are backing social care by making available a £4 billion funding boost," they added.