A VULNERABLE pensioner was forced to remain in a hospital bed for 24 days - even though a doctor declared her fit to be discharged after three.

The family of 89-year-old Olive Breakwell, of Abergavenny, fear many other hospital patients are well enough to return home but are blocking much-needed beds in acute wards because no social worker is available to 'sign them out.'

An investigation is under way into the failure of Monmouthshire social services to provide a social worker to assess Mrs Breakwell's care needs and allow her to leave. The department also admitted there wasn't one available in the hospital for five days.

Mrs Breakwell, who mow lives in the Silver Birches residential home in Victoria Street, Old Cwmbran, is partially sighted and deaf and suffers from diabetes and Parkinson's disease.

She was admitted to Nevill Hall Hospital, Abergavenny, with a fractured wrist on March 15 after staff at local authority-run Mardy Park Resource Centre in the town, where she was staying for three days respite, found her on the floor where she had spent a whole night following a fall. The home has apologised to the family and social services chiefs are aware of the incident.

Although doctors advised Mrs Breakwell she was fit to leave hospital on March 18, her family had to fight for three weeks to get a social worker to assess her care plan and approve her release.

In a letter to her grand-daughter Dawn MacLean, 35, Maggie Read, group manager of care management and Assessment for Monmouthshire county council, admitted there was no social worker available at all in the hospital from Wednesday, April 24 to Friday, April 26 due to sick leave and holidays.

Mrs Read confirmed to the Argus that there is no social worker cover in Nevill Hall during weekends.

Mrs MacLean claimed: "Social services are failing people big-time. Gran was in an acute ward for three weeks while elderly people with broken limbs were admitted constantly but did not receive the care they needed due to lack of beds.

"Meanwhile my gran was traumatised by having to stay in hospital for so long."

Inquiry launched by NHS

A SPOKESMAN for the Gwent NHS Trust said: "We cannot discharge any patient before an appropriate care plan has been agreed with social services.

"On this occasion, unfortunately, achieving that took much more time than the trust had expected or hoped for.

"It is in neither a patient's interest or ours for anyone to be in hospital any longer than they need to be."

Mrs Read said: "An independent investigation is currently under way in line with department complaints procedures.

"Until its conclusion it would be inappropriate for us to make further comment."