VALE of York MP Anne McIntosh today warned that falling bed numbers in old folk's homes were leading to a "growing crisis" in hospitals and the nursing and care sector.

A written Parliamentary answer to the Vale of York MP revealed 8,800 nursing care beds were lost in Britain between 1999 and 2000, the latest period for which figures are available.

Some 2,100 were lost in the Northern and Yorkshire region, with 130 going in the North Yorkshire Health Authority area.

The total number of beds in North Yorkshire in 2000 stood at 4,320.Ms McIntosh said this was causing a variety of problems in her constituency.

She added: "Time and again, I have had to take up cases on behalf of elderly constituents who cannot find a suitable care home or adequate funding for long term care.

"I have also heard from constituents who have been caught up in 'bed blocking', whereby they are kept in a desperately needed hospital bed because there is not enough space in local nursing or residential homes.

"If the Government would only take action to support our residential and nursing homes, instead of driving them out of business with red tape and added costs, it might become a lot easier to find places for patients discharged from acute beds to go to.

"As I have seen in my own constituency, the Government's failure to do this means we are storing up huge problems for our hospitals as well as for the care of the elderly and infirm in future, with an increasingly large elderly population."

Earlier this month Ministers announced that North Yorkshire is to get at least £754,000 per year for the next two years to tackle the problem of "bed blocking".

The bulk of the money is expected to be spent on buying extra places in private care homes.

York is to get a minimum of £312,000 per year for the next two years to spend on the problem.

No figures are available for the number of nursing and care beds in the city.

Updated: 08:33 Tuesday, October 30, 2001