ANOTHER nursing home may be forced to close with the loss of a further 19 care beds.

If it shuts, it will be the ninth nursing home in the area to have closed in the last two years, with a loss of nearly 250 beds.

Ricky Richardson, owner of Dunnington Lodge Nursing Home, said he could not understand why there was a bed blocking problem at York District Hospital (YDH) when he has had beds available since January.

Mr Richardson said: "If I don't have a higher occupancy I could be forced to close by June."

The home has three beds available in shared rooms for female residents, and City of York Council has said that this makes it more difficult to place people.

Mr Richardson said: "Surely people are better off in a proper nursing home than blocking beds in unsuitable hospital wards?

"This is an issue that affects everyone in the city. We are not caring for our elderly properly. If they want to stop bed blocking why don't they use my spare spaces, for instance? It doesn't make sense."

The home, along with St Olave's Nursing Home, in Clifton, has applied to the council for change of use of the building. St Olave's closed last week.

At Christmas, bed blocking contributed to more than 70 cancellations of elective operations at YDH.

The problem has eased in recent weeks and delayed discharges currently stands at 46. Out of those, 26 are "bed blockers" needing nursing home spaces in York - this is within the target set by the Government after York was named as one of the country's hotspots.

Rob Hurren, the council's assistant community services director, said: "City of York Council gathers weekly information on bed vacancies in the independent sector, and attempts to match those older people who are awaiting discharge from hospital to a vacancy that would be able to meet their needs and is a place they are in agreement in moving to.

"There is a great shortage of vacant beds in the independent sector at present, and although there are some vacancies in double bedrooms, most older people are not prepared to share and very much wish to maintain their privacy.

"The council is very concerned about the numbers of homes that have closed recently, but we working closely with our colleagues to try to stabilise the market and create more bed capacity."

Updated: 11:26 Monday, March 18, 2002