PATIENTS on operating waiting lists for up to twelve months have had their surgery cancelled because of Bury's hospital bed crisis.

This week alone, 16 knee replacement operations in the orthopaedic department have been postponed.

The reason is that elderly people who no longer need hospital treatment are taking up valuable beds because social services can't afford to put them into residential homes.

As the Bury Times reported last week, patients have been stuck on trolleys in Bury General's casualty unit because of the bed shortage.

Mr Phillip Bacon, chief executive of Bury NHS Health Care Trust, said: "A number of operations have had to be cancelled over the last few weeks; some are patients who have been waiting for up to twelve months.

"Most are elderly and because these are long operations it could be some time before they can be rescheduled.

"This demonstrates the domino effect that is taking place because so many beds are blocked by people who don't need them.

"Since the social services have operated a policy of one new admission to a care home for every two out the strain on the Trust has been immense.

"We have got no spare allocation of cash for people who don't need to be in hospital and we see very significant problems arising as winter comes."

Mr Bacon also revealed that a day case unit has been converted into a 24-hour ward because of the bed pressure.

"The whole situation is very worrying and we hope that action will be taken to ease it as soon as possible."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.