HEALTH and social care chiefs are set to pay £1,200 to families in a bid to get patients home from hospital more quickly in Inverclyde and free up beds.

A radical new scheme is being introduced for winter covering up to 40 people who have 'less complex' needs, allowing their families, friends or neighbours to give them the care they need instead of waiting for a formal home support package to be put in place.

Inverclyde Integrated Joint Board, which oversees local services, has been told that the new £50,000 scheme, first introduced in North Lanarkshire, could help dozens of patients return to their own homes and reduce bed-blocking at IRH.

Although some concerns have been raised about safeguards and practical processes, board members are broadly supportive of the move.

It's hoped that the move will ease the pressure being caused by cases of delayed discharge, where patients are medically fit to leave wards but have to wait for a care package to be put in place for them.

Speaking during a board debate, Councillor Martin McCluskey said: "I would like to say that we should do this. There are questions that have to be asked to make sure that we are doing this right.

"I would like to recognise that this wouldn't be the way we would do things if we had a properly-funded social care service that hadn't been neglected, bluntly, by government over the years. This feels more like a stopgap than a long-term solution."

While supportive overall, the councillor said he was concerned about the potential pressures 'on both sides'.

He added: "In terms of the person being cared for, what protections will be in place to make sure that they are not coerced or influenced into taking this by a family member who might not have the best intentions at heart?

"How do we guarantee that we are not discharging someone into a home they might not be happy to be in?"

He also asked questions regarding the people looking after the discharged patients.

Mr McCluskey said: "We are giving someone funding for six weeks.

"There could be a lot of pressure on that individual to pick up the caring at the end of that six weeks."

Chief officer Kate Rocks replied to to say that the same robust processes that are in place for anyone coming out of hospital would need to be met and assured the councillor that a full assessment would always be made.

She said: "We are looking for ways to bring them home with the right safeguards in place."

Board member Councillor Lynne Quinn backed the plan.

She said: "I speak to people who are already doing this anyway, caring for family members to get them out of hospital quicker, so this is a good move."