Hospitals with "blocked" beds are being given a lifeline, as North Yorkshire Social Services puts more than £3.2 million into trying to defuse a potential winter crisis.

The cash injection will immediately fund 20 nursing home places to free up blocked beds in hospitals.

The £3,244,000 would also enable a further five nursing home places to be bought every four weeks from December onwards to help reduce the possibility of blocked beds re-emerging.

An extra four places will be bought every four weeks from April next year.

Care homes which are facing closure because of financial constraints will be paid a higher price for all new residential and nursing home placements bought from next Monday.

And care homes will receive a five per cent increase for all care which was purchased prior to next week.

County social services chiefs have been discussing problems linked to the nursing and residential care operation in the county with both the Independent Care Group (ICG) and partners in the health service.

Seamus Breen, head of community care for social services in North Yorkshire, said: "We have been working closely to avert a crisis and to try and ensure the care sector runs at capacity and the best affordable price.

"Over the past few years the county council has recognised the problems facing the independent care sector, but has not been able to do much about it because of tight spending restrictions. Now money has been made available by the Government, which goes part of the way to resolving the problem.

"However, both the county council and the ICG acknowledge that there isn't enough money in the system to meet everyone's expectations or to buy even more places."

Mike Padgham, chairman of the ICG, said: "We welcome the additional money which the Government has given social services. However, we also recognise that these extra resources will not go far enough to solve the problems in the care industry, and prevent more business failures and bed-blocking."

Updated: 10:41 Thursday, December 13, 2001