A PROTEST will take place today over proposed cuts to school nurses and health visitors.

Members of Unite will gather in St Helen’s Square, following plans by City of York Council to reduce the number of community nurses by about 16 per cent.

The council took over responsibility for health visitors and school nurses from the NHS in August 2015, and the union, supported by York Central MP Rachael Maskell are due to discuss the cuts with the council.

Mark Fieldhouse, Unite regional officer, said: “One of the problems is that the city council seems unsure of the true extent of its community nurse workforce.

“We understand that up to 10 full-time equivalent jobs could be at risk, but we are pressing the council hard as to exactly what its plans are and the numbers of jobs under threat.

York Press:

“Nationally, since 2010, local government has faced the brunt of the cuts to public spending with 37 per cent cut from the local government budget between 2010 and 2015, with a further 56 per cent due to be axed by 2019/20.

“What families with young children are facing is no role for school nurses, removing the link between health and education.”

Mr Fieldhouse said families faced no role for school nurses, no link between health and education, and advice on sex education and smoking and drug abuse will be “much diminished”.

He also said the role of infant feeding coordinator would be axed, “leaving no support for mothers struggling with breastfeeding”.

Last month, The Press reported how nurses in York were warning that the cuts planned by the council could harm children’s health, as £150,000 was agreed to be cut from the healthy child service over the next two years.

Glenn Turp, the Royal College of Nursing’s (RCN) Yorkshire, told The Press the changes ignored the fact that demand for help in mental health and other areas was growing, and staff shortages were looming.

He said the RCN was also concerned about whether staff working at special schools would be affected, and was worried that by stopping nurses giving prescriptions to their patients, more strain could be put on other NHS services.

Mr Fieldhouse said: “To top it all, the already hard-pressed community nurses face having their pay and employment conditions much reduced by moves to put them on City of York Council salary scales, when we believe that staff should remain on NHS terms and conditions.

“If the people of York believe in a vibrant and progressive ‘healthy child service, we urge them to pledge their support by coming to tomorrow’s demo and make their collective voice heard, so we can make the case to councillors.”

The protest will take place today, between 5pm and 7pm.