OXFORDSHIRE is consistently one of the worst performing areas for bed blocking.

It is why health bosses have been looking at alternative methods to solve the problem, the latest being transferring patients to beds in nursing homes.

There was much anticipation that this would finally ease the burden on hospital beds, but the stats are not encouraging.

It is concerning the excuse is now a lack of staff being able to work with the patients to move them to the next stage of their care and free up beds.

Trust clinical services director Paul Brennan admitted it could not force staff to work in this area as it was a pilot scheme – but why was this not realised straight away?

Instead, patients have been moved from one bed to another and the problem has got worse, not better.

The only ray of light is that there is still time for the trust to rectify its oversight.

It is offering incentives to staff and one hopes they are sufficient to enable the clogged up system to flow again.

Otherwise Oxfordshire will continue to be one of the worst places for bed-blocking and it will be back to the drawing board to try to solve the issue once and for all.