sA PILOT scheme has been launched in Bury to avert a hospital beds crisis.

During the winter, there is often a shortage of beds because many are taken up by older people who are recovering from hospital treatment.

The new scheme, Step Down, enables older patients to recover in a residential home, freeing hospital beds for more urgent cases.

The patients will be able to spend up to six weeks convalescing in Killelea House, Brandlesholme Road, Bury. Fifteen of the 40 beds at the home have been made available for these patients.

The scheme also aims to increase the number of elderly people able to remain in their own homes.

Older people often take longer to recover from hospital treatment and are sometimes discharged prematurely because their bed is needed.

Councillor Mike Connolly, who attended the launch, said: "Hasty discharges from hospital benefit no-one in the long run. Older people can wind up back in hospital, or inappropriately placed in long-term residential care, when perhaps all they need is a little more time."

The hope is that by giving patients longer to fully recover, they will be able to go back to their own homes and retain their independence.

The initiative will run for three months before being reviewed. If it proves successful, it may be continued next year.