EXTRA residential home places have led to a dramatic reduction in the number of patients who take up beds unnecessarily in Darlington Memorial Hospital.

At its peak last year, the problem of bed-blocking saw up to 35 patients a week having to staying in hospital longer than necessary.

It caused severe problems for admissions at the hospital, with patients having to be diverted to other hospitals because beds were unavailable.

But Darlington Borough Council's social services department has been working closely with the National Health Service and primary care trust to find a solution, and the number of people bed-blocking has fallen to four.

Assistant director of adult and older persons services Daljit Lally said two key developments had enabled the hospital to reduce the numbers of mainly elderly people who were remaining in hospital longer than necessary.

The council commissioned 20 beds at The Grange residential home, in Whinbush Way, Darlington - five for transitional care and 15 for intermediate care.

Mrs Lally said that helped to bridge the gap between hospital and home for patients.

She said: "It allows people to leave hospital, but go into the home, where they still have some care until they are ready to cope at home.

"They can stay there for up to six weeks for rehabilitation and then move on, generally back to their own homes, where they will also have support through social services.

"It just means that people who are not ill are not inappropriately having to stay in hospital."

Two other nursing and residential homes have opened in Darlington -North Park, in I'Anson Road, and Hundens, in Hundens Lane.

Mrs Lally said that this had brought an additional 190 nursing and residential places to the town, giving more choice to patients who were unable to return home.

Two additional social workers have also been employed by the council, which has helped to speed up the assessment process and, with the new county-wide discharge policy, has helped to ensure patients are discharged as effectively as possible.

Mrs Lally said: "This has been a real joint initiative between health and social services.

"It is of real benefit to the people of Darlington, because they can now get better access to hospitals, a prompt discharge and a more appropriate response."