Eileen Chandler in hospital, with daughter-in-law BarbaraELDERLY pensioner Eileen Chandler has been taking up a hospital bed for the past five weeks when she could have been in her own home in Marlborough.

The 80-year-old has been occupying a hospital bed a classic case of bed blocking because no suitable carers can be found.

Her daughter-in-law Barbara Chandler, of Chiminage Close, Marlborough, is getting increasingly angry that her mother-in-law remains stuck in hospital 20 miles away, taking up a valuable bed, when she could be at home.

Mrs Chandler Snr was admitted to the Great Western Hospital in Swindon after a fall about seven weeks ago.

After two weeks doctors said she was ready to go back to her home in Marlborough, just a stroll from the home of her son Ken and his wife Barbara. However, Mrs Chandler Snr has had to remain in hospital because no suitable carers can be found to help her get up in the morning and go to bed at night.

Mrs Chandler Jnr, who said she was not available all the time to help her mother-in-law because of her own work commitments, is now so exasperated at the situation she has asked MP Michael Ancramto investigate .

"The best place for her is in her own home where we can look after her if we get the help we need from carers," said Mrs Chandler Jnr.

"She can wander about safely in her own home and I can pop over and check on her but she needs carers to get her up and put her to bed."

Mrs Chandler Snr previously had help from the Savernake Agency whose carers helped her get up at 8am and went back at 8pm to help her into bed.

The same carers are still available to do those shifts, said Mrs Chandler Jnr, but she has been told they cannot be used because the agency is still waiting for its registration to go through following a change in legislation.

The health service has offered carers at 10am and at 6pm but these hours, said Mrs Chandler Jnr, would be unsuitable because it would leave her mother-in-law in bed for 16 hours.

Mrs Chandler Jnr said: "I asked for my mother-in-law to be transferred from the Great Western Hospital to the Savernake Ward at Devizes but we were told that as she is not going to get better it was not the right place for her.

"I always thought that was exactly what the ward was for."

The Savernake Ward at Devizes is the temporary home for patients from the Ailesbury geriatric ward at Savernake Hospital, which is being rebuilt.

Mr Ancram told the Gazette he had written to the Kennet and North Wiltshire Primary Care Trust to see why Mrs Chandler could not be admitted to the Savernake Ward at Devizes Hospital and was awaiting a reply.

A spokeswoman for Wiltshire Social Services said there had been great difficulty recently in getting domiciliary carers in the Marlborough area.

She said it was hoped that negotiations taking place with care agencies for block contracts would remedy the situation.