Leighton Hospital beds are being taken up by medically-fit patients who can't be discharged because of the lack of care workers to look after them in the community.

Cllr Brendan Murphy (Disley, Real Ind ) said there were lots of reports of people in hospital who didn't need to be there.

Cllr Brendan Murphy

"There's nothing wrong with them but they can't go [home] and somebody else is then suffering down the line," he said.

He asked Oliver Bennett, chief operating officer at Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, if this was the case at Leighton Hospital.

Mr Bennett told yesterday's (Thursday) meeting of Cheshire East Council's scrutiny committee: "We know that people are in hospital longer than they should be in hospital.

"It's a real challenge to get people out of hospital, we know that, but that's because of the pressures right across the health and social care system. So it's not a social care problem, it's not a health problem, it's a collective problem."

"We're working tirelessly with colleagues right across the system to get people out of hospitals into the best care setting for their needs which, in a lot cases, can be their own home.

"There are well documented challenges associated with people being cared for in their home.

"Because people can't be kept in their home they're often then in other care settings, including community beds, that then results in patients not being able to be discharged from hospital because people are in community beds where they need to be discharged to – so it's a real problem across our system."

He added: "In my personal opinion, there is no quick fix to this.

"We are starting to see some improvements in our ability to discharge people from hospital but the pace is not what we want it to be."

Jill Broomhall, director of adult social care at Cheshire East Council, said lots of care workers were leaving the profession.

"If you look at domiciliary care, care at home providers, lots of staff have exited the care market.

"They've moved into retail, they've moved into other areas of work, hospitality, so there's a shortage of care workers," said Mrs Broomhall.

"That then means that we don't have the care in the community in order for people to pick up that care.

"So people who are in hospital, who need care at home, that care isn't available. So for their safety they go into a step-down bed, a community bed, which, eventually, they fill up and so people do then spend more time in hospitals."

She added: "However, we are delivering more care than we have ever delivered but the demand is outstripping what we have available."