ELDERLY people could die as bed-blocking in Bury's hospitals reaches crisis point.

As the number of patients waiting for a place in a nursing home rises to 46, Dr Kevin Snee, director of Public Health at Bury and Rochdale Health Authority has warned: "being in a hospital bed when they don't need it can damage the health of an elderly person and could even kill them."

One woman at Fairfield General has been fit for release for 270 days, but social services can't afford to fund a place at a nursing home and so she is forced to stay in hospital.

Patients in hospital are open to infection and can end up in a vicious circle, Mrs Chris Webb, director of quality at the authority explained.

She added: "One elderly person came into hospital, was treated and got to the top of the list to go into a nursing home. While she was waiting for funding she got an infection and needed treatment again so dropped to the bottom of the list.

"Elderly patients in this situation become institutionalised and their ability to settle into a home in the future is affected. We need to recognise this and try to do something."

While bed-blocking figures approach 50, operations have been cancelled, seriously hampering the drive to cut waiting lists.

Patients are stuck on trolleys in accident and emergency waiting for beds to become free and almost £300,000 has been lost because of delayed discharges.

Mr Alan Maden, chairman of Bury and Rochdale Health Authority said: "The effect on the patients who have to spend the extra time in hospital is very serious.

"We all thought this was going to be an end of the year issue but we are at the beginning of the financial year and it's getting worse. The knock-on effect is that waiting times in accident and emergency has increased and waiting list have been affected."

Mr Phillip Bacon, chief executive of Bury Health Care Trust said: "The main concern is the effect on the patients. These are people who are getting on in life and deserve better treatment than they are getting. Acute hospital wards are for ill patients and not for people waiting to go into a nursing home."

At April's Health Authority meeting a paper analysing bed-blocking was distributed. It said that 16 per cent of beds were blocked because of the delay and that £270,000 had been lost because of the block.

Mr Maden plans to pass on these latest figures to the leader of Bury Council, Coun John Byrne.

Mr Evan Boucher, director of strategic planning at the authority said: "What worries me is the way in which the numbers have shot up. We are at 50 now and it could easily rise to 60 or 70. This is a real problem that could get out of hand and the potential cost is enormous. Dealing with this and trying to keep a normal service is extremely difficult."

The Health Authority have been meeting regularly with the council to look at ways to solve the crisis. Suggestions include finding ways of keeping patients out of hospital by having better home care or making better use of short stay care.

Radcliffe doctor Dr Kumar Kotegaonkar resigned this week as GP representative of Bealey's hospital in Dumers Lane, Radcliffe, claiming the bed-blocking crisis had been mishandled.

He said that five "bed-blocked" patients had been moved into Bealey Community Hospital without consultation.

Bealey's is usually used by GPs for elderly people who need care but not hospital treatment.

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