£4million to cut bedblocking by half

Bed blocking occurs when patents who no longer need immediate hospital care are forced to remain due to a lack of suitable alternative care facilities

The extra 4 million (3m from the East Sussex County Council and 1m from the government) will pay for 100 extra residential nursing home places '“ bringing delayed discharge figures down by almost 50 per cent.

The money from the county council comes from a council reserve fund.

But leader Peter Jones said the problem cannot be solved by simply throwing money at it. He explained: "We have decided to step in with this initiative because of our concern about the rising number of delayed discharges.

"This package is all the extra money we have available for bed blocking '“ and, while it will relieve the situation, it does not solve the fundamental issue that too many people are entering hospital in the first place."

The council says it is working hard to help older people remain in their own homes for as long as possible and reducing the number of people needing residential care through a range of 'intermediate care' packages.