Jane Dodds has called on the Welsh Government to tackle a growing social care crisis, as thousands of patients are stuck in hospital because there aren’t enough care home beds

The Mid and West Wales MS raised the issue with First Minister, Eluned Morgan, at the Senedd.

She said that around one in seven hospital beds is occupied by someone who is ready to go home, but stuck because they can't get the support they need.

Ms Dodds said: “In Powys hospitals, as of September 2, 52 per cent of patients were ready for discharge, yet remained in hospital waiting for care assessments or agreed support.

“As we all know, every day that they stay, they lose strength, independence and confidence.

“We know that, across Wales, capacity is stretched. We have fewer than 700 care homes, and fewer than 100 are run by local authorities. Social care is in crisis.

“First Minister, how do we fund our social care services to make sure that hospitals are for health and not for social care?”

Ms Morgan said the Government has invested £18 million to deliver new care home beds across Wales.

Referring to it as "one of the big issues of our time", she said: “We are aware that more needs to be done in relation to improving the numbers of delayed transfers of care, and that's why we put more money in it.

“Thank you for your support for that in last year's budget, because we had £30 million extra as a result of your support. That has helped us to bring those figures down.

“The August figure shows that we got 257 more people out of hospital in a timely fashion compared to the previous August.”

She said it was an improvement, but there was “a long way to go.”