A SPECIALIST team treating patients for falls will be disbanded after research suggested it is no longer needed.

The York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust’s (YTHFT) Falls Prevention Team will end in the new year and staff will face redundancy if they cannot be redeployed into vacant posts elsewhere within the Trust.

Five members of staff could be affected by the move.

A joint statement from YTHFT and NHS Vale of York Clinical Commissioning Group said: “The team has provided an excellent service and has been valued by patients.

“However, as research has shown little evidence that a dedicated falls service significantly prevents falls, new approaches to care are required.

“We are committed to help individuals seek redeployment into vacant posts at the Trust through a fair and open process, according to their skills and experience.”

Patients identified by paramedics will still be referred to the Intermediate Care Team, and housebound patients at risk of falls are to be reviewed using a falls assessment risk tool.

YTHFT and NHS Vale of York Clinical Commissioning Group are reassuring patients and will work closely with City of York Council to prevent injuries from falls.

A letter sent to the CCG by the Falls Prevention Team’s five staff say they feel let down by the closure and claim they could be made redundant, despite the Trust saying it is confident they will all find new jobs.

It said: “Our extensive and diverse nursing experience and expertise in Falls Prevention could have been utilised.

“Now there appears to be no alternative service, and this is worrying to us, patients and other professionals who we have spoken to since we were informed of the decision.

“We not only go into people’s homes and refer onto other professionals including occupational therapy and physiotherapy, we also visit very vulnerable elderly people who live alone and who sometimes have no support and no family to help.

“As a result of this decision we have been put at risk. If suitable redeployment cannot be found then redundancy is a possibility and we are now in the consultation phase of this.”