A CHRONIC lack of nursing home beds in Kent is hitting Dartford's Darent Valley Hospital hard, bosses have claimed. Around a quarter of nursing home places in the county have been lost in the last two years, causing hospital beds to be occupied by patients usually fit to stay in homes.

A spokesman for the Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust, which runs all clinical services at Darent Valley, said: "On average around 35 beds per week are occupied by patients who are medically fit to be discharged from hospital care. Clearly this reduces the number of available beds for people who are coming into the hospital as emergencies or planned admissions."

The trust's warning comes after it was heavily criticised in figures released by the Department of Health last week.

Gravesend Hospital has also been hit by the nursing homes crisis, with beds taken up by elderly patients with nowhere else to go.

Kent County Council has warned the Government nursing care in the county faces "meltdown" unless extra funds are made available.

"The situation is critical," warned council leader Sandy Bruce-Lockhart. "Winter is approaching when there is extra demand for beds in hospitals. A lot of elderly people occupying hospital beds have no need to be there, and indeed don't want to be there."

The Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust spokesman added: "We fully sympathise with the very difficult and complex situation that KCC is trying to address."