ALMOST £14million of extra cash is being awarded to Dudley Council to spend on adult social care services which it is hoped will help to get to grips with the problem of hospital bed-blocking.

The money, which is being awarded over three years, is part of a £2billion national allocation from the government’s Improved Better Care Fund to councils across the country to help improve the lives of elderly and vulnerable people - particularly by tackling the issue of bed-blocking stemming from a lack of resources in adult social care services.

Part of the allocation will go towards reducing instances of delayed transfers of care from Dudley's Russells Hall Hospital to help meet NHS England’s expectation that such cases will be cut to 3.5 per cent this financial year. The current figure in Dudley stands at nearly seven per cent.

The investment, which is separate to the social care precept which has been set at a further three per cent on council tax, equates to £7.2million in 2017/18, £4.5million in 2018/19 and £2,2million in third year.

The one-off allocation of extra cash has been welcomed by Dudley councillors - in particular after it was revealed that one case of bed-blocking at Russells Hall has gone on for nearly 500 days.

Councillor Ian Kettle told the News the individual patient involved has "probably denied hundreds of patients a bed" during the time spent occupying it, awaiting transfer to a community setting, and he said: "It's a sad state of affairs that things have gone on this long."

Health chiefs have all stressed they are aware of the situation and have been working to achieve a satisfactory resolution for the patient - deemed medically fit for discharge for 490 days but who this week remained in hospital.

It is hoped the money awarded to the council through the Improved Better Care Fund will help to avoid such cases arising in future.

A report to the council’s cabinet stated there is an expectation for the grant to be fully spent as allocated “due to the urgent and immediate problems identified in the health and care systems”.

Councillor Nic Barlow, Dudley’s cabinet member for adult social care, said: “This funding is great news. It’s not about filling black holes, it’s about looking at how we can enhance certain areas. It’s a fixed term sum of money that will decrease over over three years - we’ve got to use it effectively front end to make sure we benefit from it beyond that three years. It’s got to benefit our vulnerable people in the borough - whether that’s elderly people or young people with complex needs.”

The funding aims to ensure the delivery of ‘high impact changes’ such as enhancing health care in homes, implementing systems to monitor patient flow and to plan for early patient discharges from hospital, providing a seven-day service and putting more focus on choice.

A proportion of the investment must also be spent on supporting care providers to mitigate the impact of the living wage.