Patients fit to be discharged block 14 beds each day at the Calderdale and Huddersfield Trust

With elderly patients often stuck waiting to be signed off, there is concern over the impact delays can have on their health.

According to the NHS, a hospital stay of more than 10 days for a person over 80 can lead to 10 years of muscle ageing.

NHS England figures show that in February, patients at the Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust spent a total of 385 days waiting to be discharged or transferred to a different care facility.

That's equivalent to more than a year of waiting time.

A delayed transfer of care occurs when a patient remains in a bed after being officially declared safe for transfer by both a doctor and a multidisciplinary team, which could include social or mental health care workers.

The figures show that 51 per cent of the delays were caused by problems within the NHS, like waiting for a bed to open up in a rehabilitation centre or mental health hospital.

A further 45 per cent were caused by problems with social care, such as delays in setting up community care or special equipment at home.

And 17 delayed days were because of problems in both sectors.

Delays in transferring a patient between wards, or from one acute hospital to another, are not included.

Independent healthcare charity the King's Fund said that could be many more people who were safe to leave hospital but had not been officially signed off.

The Care Quality Commission said that it recommends a more joined-up approach to health and social care to tackle delays.

A CQC spokesperson said: "There is too much ineffective coordination of local health and care services - leading to fragmented care for older people.

"Our measures would reflect the contribution of all health and care organisations, rather than relying primarily on information collected by acute hospitals."

Across England, an average of 4,546 beds were blocked each day in February, resulting in a total of 127,281 delayed days – equivalent to just under 350 years of lost time.

The rate peaked in February 2017, when 6,660 beds were lost to bed blocking each day, but has fallen steadily since then. Last year, it was 5,013 per day.

An NHS England spokesperson said: “Thanks to better joint working between hospitals and social care teams, thousands more people were able to return home with the right support quicker after a spell in hospital this winter, freeing up hundreds of beds every day for other patients who need hospital care.”