GREAT Western Hospital is working to reduce delays in discharging patients after a report revealed 'bed-blocking' may be costing the NHS £900m a year.

In its latest inspection by health watchdog the Care Quality Commission the trust was called out for being unable to manage the access and flow of patients through the main hospital.

“There were high numbers of patients who could not be discharged because there were no suitable places for them to go to.” the report said.

Now, the trust in conjunction with Swindon Borough Council and care organisation SEQOL will meet at an overview and scrutiny committee on February 11 to discuss ways in which to tackle the problem.

A Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust spokesman said the trust remained focused on forward planning to ensure patients got the appropriate level of support once discharged.

“We do everything we can to ensure patients can leave hospital in a timely, well planned and supported way, when they no longer need this level of care," he said.

“This involves planning ahead so everything is ready when the patient is well enough to leave and working with local health and social care partners so that arrangements for further care and support can be made early on.”

The meeting comes after Labour peer Lord Carter's independent report found nearly one in 10 hospital beds was taken by someone medically fit to be released.

It said it was a "major problem" causing operations to be cancelled and resulting in the NHS paying private hospitals to see patients.

A Swindon Borough Council spokesman said they were focused on providing aftercare to patients to ensure they could be discharged safely-including a £1.7m investment into support for the elderly.

“We recognise that delayed discharges from hospital can cause frustration for patients and their relatives and block up valuable beds, which is why a working group representing health and social care agencies has been looking at ways to reduce the numbers," he said. 

"The measures we have put in place in Swindon are making steady progress in the right direction with the overall number of days falling since last July.

“The overarching objective is to make sure that people who are well enough to leave hospital are able to return home at the earliest opportunity with the appropriate help and support or that there is a care home or residential home bed available for them. £1.7million has been invested in supporting older people in the Borough over the past year to help achieve this goal.

“The measures taken include the funding of 900 hours of domiciliary care per week, funding for social workers to work 7 days a week and the development of a new online assessment tool to allow some assessments to be done more quickly.

"We have also made up to 14 additional beds available in nursing homes to discharge patients as quickly as possible.”

A SEQOL spokesman said: “We have people based at the hospital assessing patients throughout their stay so that appropriate plans are in place from admission onwards.

"Our intermediate care centre, provides step-up care that GPs can access for patients who need extra care but not hospital admission, and provides rehabilitation once patients are well enough to leave the hospital but need support before going home."