A REPORT goes before councillors tomorrow that shows 1,000 days of hospital care are lost to patients that need it because other people are unable to be moved from the bed they are occupying.

That’s not to say those stuck in that bed don’t deserve care – it just means they could be better helped elsewhere and this would free up space for someone else waiting not just for treatment but to be assessed.

Swindon is in no worse position than any other authority, which goes to show that this is a national crisis that is not being properly addressed.

Patients who could be cared for in their own home, or need to go into a care home, are unable to be moved because there are not enough people to assess them, prepare them for the move or support them when they get there.

Thus the burden is placed on the NHS to continue that care, and of course that leaves a patient remaining on a ward vulnerable to infection like MRSA. And even if they do avoid a superbug the mental strain of being on a noisy, busy ward can begin to tell on their wellbeing, no matter how wonderful the staff are.

The only sure way to avoid this is to ramp up the social care available – more assessors, more social workers, better preventative treatment and more thorough GP examinations.

But these are just the areas where our government is squeezing the financial pressure. Not directly of course. Its austerity cuts are forcing council to make tough decisions about social care finding. Its targets are encouraging GPs to rush through appointments more quickly.

Swindon Borough Council is trying to meet this social care need with extra resources but will it be enough? The next set of bed blocking figures will show us.