STROKE patients are waiting up to three weeks to be discharged from hospital because of bureaucratic bickering between a council and a primary care trust, a leading nurse has claimed.

Stroke co-ordinator Jayne Nicholson hit out at Darlington Borough Council's adult services department and Darlington Primary Care Trust (PCT) before urging them to pull together to help patients.

Ms Nicholson, of County Durham and Darlington Acute Hospitals Trust, said delays were caused by disputes between PCT and adult services about whether patients' requirements were social or health needs.

Speaking at the council's health and well-being scrutiny committee this week, she said: "Your social services are playing table tennis with your patients."

Patients ready to be discharged were being kept in hospital for an average of three weeks while authorities could not agree on after-care plans, she said.

"You try getting patients from Darlington discharged. It is a nightmare," she said.

"You have one side coming in and saying it is a health care need and the other saying it is a social need," she said.

"We have an average three-week delay in discharging Darlington patients.

"We have got to work together for this.

"We have got some very good people out there and really you want to be proud of them."

Councillor Heather Scott said her husband, who had suffered a minor stroke eight months ago, was still waiting to be referred to one of the intermediate centres in Darlington.

Jackie Haskey, of adult services, said beds for intermediate care were not only for stroke patients.

Miriam Davidson, of Darlington PCT, said: "We are striving all the time, let me assure you, to manage those areas.

"We are working together to provide seamless care."

She said a home care strategy would soon be produced, to allow stroke patients to access intermediate care in their homes.

After the meeting, committee chairman Councillor Marian Swift said: "It was a lively meeting and from that we have some very positive outcomes with better communication and closer working between organisations, so the care available to residents of Darlington who suffer from strokes will be greatly improved.