IT was once ranked as one of the worst in the country – but now Dudley is one of the best in terms of minimising delays in bed-blocking.

In the latest figures for July this year, Dudley Council is now in the top quarter of local authorities nationally in tackling delayed transfers of care.

The stats list the number of days lost where patients remain in hospital, despite being well enough to be discharged.

Dudley is now ranked 33rd out of 151, with 109 days where beds were blocked in July. That represents an 86 per cent reduction in the space of a year, with the figure at 781 days in August last year.

The local authority was ranked 112th back then, just outside the bottom quartile of local authorities nationally.

In terms of delays where they are the responsibility of adult social care and the council – mainly through beds not being available in care or residential settings – the improvement has been even more marked.

Just 33 days were recorded in July where beds were blocked because of adult social care – an impressive 92.4 per cent improvement on 437 days in August last year.

Councillor John Martin, cabinet member for adult social care, said: "The latest figures show a quite amazing turnaround and are a real testament to the hard work of our staff.

"While we recognise there is some way to go, these latest statistics show that as a council we are definitely moving in the right direction with regards to delayed transfers of care.

"We will strive to build on this progress and hope the services can only improve further from this point onwards."

Last year the council was awarded £13.9million from the government’s Improved Better Care Fund to spend over three years to tackle some of the most pressing issues in health and adult social care.

In the first year, the council committed to spending £7million introducing a package of measures to support older people to leave hospital as soon as they are medically fit to do so, reducing cases of delayed transfer of care.