A REPORT into bedblocking will be the key to solving the county’s problems, Mr Hudspeth believes.

He said he was waiting on the results of a report into the issue before taking specific action on the crisis.

The council has commissioned Dr Stephen Richards to find the pinch points that are causing patients to be left stuck in their beds.

Mr Hudspeth said: “We will be working with him to see if we can improve bed blockages and find out why they are there.

“Once we have identified the situation and where the blockages are, we will see what we can do to make sure we improve the service.

“It is not a question of injecting more money into the system, it is a case of trying to find how best to use the money that is already there.

“But, as with school improvements, bedblocking is not something that is going to change over night.”

The bedblocking problem is mostly caused when hospital patients – mainly the elderly or disabled – are unable to go back home until extra care is put in place or home adaptations carried out to allow them to live independently.

Latest figures show nearly 200 people are taking up beds in the county when they are medically well enough to go home.

Mr Hudspeth said he hoped the council would have the report later this year and has kept on Arash Fatemian as the cabinet member responsible.

He added: “Arash has been doing adult social services for the past three years and he has been doing a good job and knows the issues.

“I have talked to him about it and said we have got to try to resolve the issues but I have got faith in Arash and what he is doing.

“The timeframe is to do it as quickly as possible, but it is also important to make sure we get it done right.”