HAMPSHIRE councils have been handed a near-£1m cash injection amid growing fears of a social care crisis.

The authorities are among 125 that will share a £37m pot which has been rushed forward ahead of a planned hand-out for the next financial year.

The grants are intended to put in place extra care packages for people who are otherwise unable to be discharged from hospital – so-called “bed-blocking”.

It comes after the Daily Echo revealed this week how, on one day earlier this month, more than 200 beds of the 900 available at Southampton General Hospital were taken up by bed-blockers.

The grants are also intended to prevent people needlessly going to hospital in the first place, perhaps because of falls or flu.

Hampshire County Council will receive the largest sum (£520,000), followed by Southampton City Council (£325,000) and the Isle of Wight (£120,000).

Ministers say they are targeting help in the areas where they recognise social care systems are creaking, preventing the smooth transfers of patients.

Eric Pickles, the Local Government Secretary, said: “Social services have to be part of the solution to the high demand on hospitals at the moment.

“We know that they can help by getting people home more quickly when it is safe to do so once they have been discharged.”

The £5.3bn Better Care Fund will not get under way until April, transferring cash originally intended for the NHS to councils, to integrate health and social care services.

Mr Pickles added: “With hospitals under pressure in the cold weather this winter, we have also found extra money to help out now.”