HOSPITAL bed blocking has hit an all-time high as more than 130 people wait on wards across the area because there is nowhere else for them to go. 

The number of patients deemed medically fit for discharge - meaning they no longer need hospital care - hit 134 last week with the total increasing each day. 

Patients are having to spend longer in hospital than necessary because nursing home beds are not available or they are waiting for social care packages to be put in place to allow them to return home safely. 

The blocking of beds is creating pressures on medics at Furness General Hospital, the Royal Lancaster Infirmary and Westmorland General Hospital as they struggle to cope with the volume of new patients who need to be admitted. 

Rupert Wainwright, deputy chief operating officer at the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, said: "We have got a serious problem getting people out of hospital. 

"We felt before the winter that we were as well prepared as we could be but we had concerns. 

"Unfortunately, the commissioners have not been able to commission the amount of places they need to get people out." 

Last winter (2014/15), UHMBT was awarded a winter resilience grant of £3.879m from the government. 

It was used to pay for a series of extra measures to keep the flow of patients moving through the hospitals - including an extra decision-making consultant stationed in the emergency department and discharge co-ordinators to help get the right support in place for people as they returned home. 

A total of 12 beds were also rented at St Luke's Nursing Home in Barrow as an interim recovery option. 

But cash received ahead of this winter was just £1.265m - a third of the previous sum. 

Speaking at a UHMBT board meeting, Jackie Daniel, chief executive, said: "There are an awful lot of difficulties facing the service right now. We are right up against the buffers because there isn't any immediate solution."