A £2.3 million cash boost to get people out of hospital and fight bed blocking during the winter has been announced.

The Government has released £2,384,625 to Worcestershire County Council as part of a wider £240 million programme to help local authorities free up hospital beds and get patients home quicker across England.

Bed blocking refers to patients who have been treated but cannot be discharged from hospital. This causes a great deal of pressure for local NHS services, particularly in winter.

The Department for Health and Social Care said this money could go towards home care packages to get patients home quicker, reablement packages to help patients regain mobility and help with everyday tasks, and home adaptations, including adapting shower rooms if patients suffer from mobility issues. John Smith, Worcestershire County Council cabinet member with responsibility for health and wellbeing welcomed the funding.

He said: "Any money we can get is welcome.

"As I'm sure you are aware, we do struggle for money in this kind of care and anything we can get is a great help.

"We always monitor patients and need to make sure they can come out of hospital as soon as possible. People recover better in their homes so we will work to make sure patients can get the best quality health care they can."

The West Midlands will receive £26,781,361 as part of the investment. Health secretary Matt Hancock said: "I want to help the NHS through this winter.

“I have already provided funding for hospitals to make upgrades to their buildings to deal with pressures this winter, and I am making an extra £240 million available to councils to pay for social care packages this winter to support our NHS.

“We will use this money to help people who don’t need to be in hospital, but do need care, to get back home, into their communities, so we can then free up those vital hospital beds, and help more people get the hospital care they need.”

A Worcestershire County Council spokesman said: "With winter pressure likely to be as challenging as last year, the council welcomes the one-off investment and will discuss with local NHS partners how to deploy this money most effectively."

A total of £240 million has been made available by the government, with the West Midlands receiving the third highest amount of the nine regions given the funding. Councils have been allocated funding based on the adult social care relative needs formula.

Healthwatch Worcestershire were unavailable for comment.