BED-BLOCKING in the NHS will worsen unless the Government cuts the amount of red tape "strangling" the independent care sector, a North-East expert has warned.
Nigel Fielding, managing director of Darlington firm Abacus Care, which supplies nurses and care staff to local hospitals, said that independently run agencies and care providers were caught up in a vicious circle of costly legislation.
He believed the issue was causing a chain reaction in the care sector, forcing many private care homes out of business, and cutting the number of places available for elderly people who cannot live on their own.
He said: "The independent sector provides most of the care home facilities and without them, the NHS is unlikely to be able to solve the problem of bed-blocking.
"Yet the situation is set to worsen as fewer places become available in care homes. So many private homes are closing down because they cannot afford to meet prohibitive legislative costs."
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