RELATIVES have been urged to make sure their sick loved ones return home as quick as possible after receiving hospital care.

Morecambe Bay Trust said its hospitals, including Furness General, were under 'extreme pressure' due to 'bed blocking'.

Bed blocking is when patients who should be in social care or at home have nowhere to go so remain in hospital. 

The trust said: "Our hospitals remain under extreme pressure. You can help by making sure your loved ones get home as soon as they no longer need hospital care. The quicker we can get someone home once they're ready, the quicker we can help care for someone else who really needs it." 

It has been a tough period for the trust. Earlier this week, health bosses said A&E departments in Lancashire and South Cumbria are experiencing a sustained increase in demand for all NHS services including 'exceptionally high numbers of people attending emergency departments (A&E) and GP practices'. 

A spokesman for UHMBT said: "As always, all NHS staff are working hard to make sure patients are seen in order of clinical need.

"Our priority, as always, is to ensure safe and high-quality care for people in Lancashire and South Cumbria. Hospitals and our community services, including staff across nursing, pharmacy, primary care and general practice, along with other colleagues, are doing all they can to meet people’s needs."

Another North West Ambulance Strike is due on December 28. Earlier this week, it asked people to only call 999 if it is a 'life-threatening situation' in the days before the strike.  

Bed-blocking had already been an issue in Morecambe Bay Trust before the strike. 

Scott McLean, the chief operating officer for Morecambe Bay NHS Trust, told The Mail in September that patients often do not have anywhere to go when it is time to be discharged.

"It is a fact that our hospitals currently have 25 to 30 per cent of beds occupied by citizens who should be receiving care in a community setting - ideally in their own home. This does cause issues with the running of our acute hospitals and community health services," he said at the time.

"It is the case that these patients having care at, or close to, home would free-up significant capacity in our acute hospitals for patients who require it."