OLD people needlessly stuck in hospital have been told there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Social services have decided to end their "two out, one in" policy which has caused a bed-blocking crisis in Bury.

Bosses have agreed to fund more places in residential or nursing homes - but warn that waiting lists will not vanish overnight.

Between 40 and 50 people have been taking up hospital beds for months although they do not need treatment.

Social services had huge budget deficits and tried to save money by only paying for one home bed for every two vacancies.

These harsh measures have succeeded in reducing the department's overspend on community care from £426,000 to £140,000, and officers hope to finally balance the books by the end of this year.

Because of this, they can now afford to purchase 620 placements in homes, up from last year's 594, and return to a "one out, one in" policy.

But they say demand for care will still exceed the funding available.

Mr David Ashworth, social services director, told Tuesday's committee meeting that the number of people bed-blocked in May was worrying, and things may become serious by the autumn. "Waiting lists will not be wiped out in the short term," he said.

Ms Sue Lightup, assistant director, highlighted the difficulties in forecasting what social services needed to spend.

The formula for funding assumes that people going into a home will live for three years, but some in Bury are living twice as long.

"That's testimony to the good care they receive, but it has had a fundamental effect on our ability to fund placements," she said.

Committee chairman Coun John Costello said: "It's regrettable that we cannot provide the level of service which the people of Bury need and deserve."

However, there is good news for people who care for relatives at home.

Ms Lightup said the healthier budget gave the department a little more leeway this year, and the council needed to increase spending on home care rather than residential places.

Social services will now set aside £150,000 to improve respite care.

"This is a brave strategy," she said. "It would be easy to use the money on residential care and shorten waiting lists, but that does not solve the long-term problem."

More than 50 people will leave North Manchester General Hospital after a £1.5 million cash injection to ease bed blocking.

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