THE care home crisis is hitting the local NHS, with recent closures helping to push up "bedblocking" at York hospitals.

Delayed transfers of patients from wards have increased in the last three months at York District Hospital (YDH), despite a massive cash injection from North Yorkshire Health Authority to try and alleviate the crisis.

And NHS managers say recent closure announcements by a number of local nursing homes - highlighted in the Evening Press - are already affecting the figures.

This bad news comes after £312,000 was released to York Health Services NHS Trust in October, part of £700,000 being spent around the county in a bid to free up acute hospital beds.

It was meant to stabilise the problem over the summer months and prepare the beds for possible winter influx of patients.

In August 83 beds were blocked within the trust's hospitals this was then reduced to 50 in October but this week has increased to 65. Currently 43 beds are blocked at YDH alone.

Delayed transfers at YDH were put on the high priority list by City of York Council, Selby and York Primary Care Trust (PCT) and the health authority.

But Susan Acott, acute services director at the trust, said the crisis in the care homes was having an obvious detrimental effect on delayed transfers at the hospital.

"The closures are disappointing because things were going in the right direction.

"We are concerned about the numbers of delayed transfers. The money was meant to stabilise the situation but things are very turbulent at the moment because of the care home crisis.

"The council has had to concern itself with placing people from the closing homes and so our numbers have increased in the hospital."

The trust is meeting weekly with social services and the PCT to address the growing problem.

George Wood, deputy chief executive for the trust, said: "The recent nursing home closures have undoubtedly had an effect on the number of patients moved from hospital to nursing homes.

"One of the objectives for the additional funding made available to the City of York Council is to stabilise the nursing home market this is very important as we must not lose any further capacity."

The council has received the money as part of the Cash for Change £300 million national programme, on the condition that bedblocking is reduced by 30 per cent by March.

Updated: 08:25 Monday, November 26, 2001