MORE than £1 million is to be spent in Kent on services to keep people out of hospital.

The money has come from the Government and a deal between the county's social services and NHS means it will be used to reduce so-called bed blocking.

Canterbury and Coastal Primary Care Trust is leading the scheme on behalf of the NHS in Kent and Medway.

Wilf Williams, from the trust, said: "People recover better outside the hospital environment once their acute care has finished and hospital beds will be freed up for people who need them."

Preventative schemes will start this month and Kent County Council has agreed to pay the costs of this until the Government grant is received.

The services include investment in step-down beds in private and county council care homes, specialist social and nursing care in people's homes so they do not need to go to hospital and investment in the voluntary sector such as the Red Cross' home from hospital scheme.

Kent's record on reducing the number of people delayed in hospital has already exceeded targets set by the Government for the past two years. In that time the number of delayed discharges has more than halved.