YORK Hospital has refuted claims that elderly and vulnerable people are suffering as a result of the closure of a city hospital unit.

Upon the closure of Archways - which cared for people recovering from serious illness - York Hospital trust said its community response team would be expanded to care for people at home.

But it has been claimed that Archways staff have not been deployed to the community team, leaving vulnerable and elderly people suffering a “double whammy” of cuts to services.

York Press:

Janet Conde, of Defend Our NHS York, told a meeting of City of York Council: “We were informed that all Archways staff would be given a role in the community response teams... This, we were told, would mean the intermediate care teams would move out from Archways into the community. However, this is not the case. Very few staff have been moved out into the community response team, the rest are working in various hospital departments.

“In effect local people, particularly vulnerable older people, have experienced a double whammy with the closure of Archways and the reduction of potential in intermediate care services in their community.”

However, York Hospital has denied the claim.

A spokesperson for the trust said the York Community Response Team (CRT) has expanded by 50 per cent since the closure of Archways in December to ensure that an additional 350 patients a year can be supported in their own home.

They said: “In January 2017 York CRT managed 152 referrals at home compared with the previous January’s 98 referrals, caring for an additional 54 patients. Across the Trust an additional 122 patients were supported by the community response teams in January 2017 compared to the equivalent month last year.

“Our existing community rehabilitation units, Whitecross Court and St Helen’s have continued to provide capacity for patients who require a direct admission into a community inpatient bed.

“All existing staff from Archways were retained within the Trust.”

Archways in Clarendon Court, between Haxby Road and Wigginton Road, cared for 350 people a year to prevent patients being admitted to York Hospital or to allow earlier discharge.

The NHS said that returning home with support is proven to aid the recovery of patients. At the time, concerns were expressed that the closure of the hospital may exacerbate ongoing problems with so-called bed blocking.