AN IDEA to pay relatives to provide care in Dorset seems unlikely to get off the ground.

The suggestion came from Sturminster Newton councillor Carole Jones during a discussion about reasons for people staying in hospital longer than needed.

One of the main causes for what are known as ‘delayed discharges’ is that people are unable to put a care package in place for when they return home – often because there are not enough carers available in the community.

Cllr Jones told Wednesday’s Dorset Health & Wellbeing Board that while many relatives were willing to help, most were limited, financially, by how much time they were able to offer, especially for those still working.

She suggested that one solution could be to investigate paying relatives for providing care to help people in their own homes, which she suggested might also be cheaper than hiring in help.

“For many it’s a barrier that they can’t afford to stop working for a few weeks,” she said.

But fellow board member, Patricia Miller, chief executive of the Dorset Integrated Care Board, warned that there could be legal and financial problems around the idea - as well as conflict of interest concerns.

Committee chairman Cllr Steve Robinson said he welcomed the proposal to investigate the possibility of paying carers but said that if there were legal and other problems it might be possible to find other, non-financial, ways of supporting relatives providing care.

The meeting heard that although local measures to help speed up the process of getting people back home after a hospital admission were improving across Dorset there was still work needed on achieving further reductions and avoiding hospital admissions in the first place.

Ms Miller said she would like to have more information about people still at home with what she described as ‘sub-optimal’ care, or no care support at all.

She said that providing support for those who needed it was likely to help avoid hospital admissions and also improve the individual’s quality of life