NHS bed blocking is costing the government nearly £500million a year as thousands of elderly patients are needlessly stuck in hospital, according to official figured.
The data from NHS England shows that the numbers of patients stuck in hospital, for want of care at home or help to get them discharged, has more than doubled since 2010.
Figures show that patients taking up beds when they no longer required care took up 134,221 days in October compare with 58,362 in 2010.
