THE inflexible working hours of some social workers may be contributing to bed-blocking in hospitals, according to a group of county councillors.

Social workers are not available after 4.30pm to make arrangements for older hospital patients to go home. As a result some have to be admitted to a hospital bed unnecessarily, taking beds needed for other people.

And when these older patients are in a hospital bed, social workers' assessments only take place once a fortnight, again keeping them in hospital longer than necessary.

The problem was pointed out to Buckinghamshire county councillors when they visited Wycombe Hospital as part of an investigation into the relationships between health and social services.

Trevor Fowler, chairman of the council's partnership select committee, said medical staff had said they could not get decisions after 4.30pm.

He said the team was surprised to learn that assessments for patients in hospital only took place every two weeks. His committee's report will go to the cabinet.

The council's cabinet member responsible for the adult care services, Hugh Carey, has promised to have look into all this. He said another cause of delayed discharges was getting people into the care home they wanted.

He said: "Social workers find that the client wants to go to one particular residential home but it has no vacancies, so there is a hold up. There are also funding problems which can cause delays but which health don't appreciate."

Two weeks ago Midweek's sister paper the Free Press reported 40 patients in Wycombe Hospital taking up beds when they could have been discharged. Health chiefs also said health and social services should work more closely to help prevent bed-blocking.