Thousands of elderly NHS patients are being forced to prolong their stay in hospital because of a shortage of specialist beds, according to a study by the Department of Health published today.

Figures for England show a 13 per cent rise in the number of people over 75 who are fit to leave hospital but are unable to be discharged.

Although Paul Burstow, the Lib Dem health spokesman, said that the effect was to block expensive NHS beds, a spokesman for the Department of Health, said the figures were affected by a seasonal variation.

Meanwhile the NHS came under fire from the French health secretary yesterday, who told the New Statesman that it is "medieval" and is in an "intolerable" state for a modern nation in the 21st century.