A QUESTION mark is hanging over the future of vital York services to help elderly patients return home after hospital treatment and other patients cope with sight loss.

Nine contracts with charities and voluntary organisations are being reviewed by cash-strapped NHS Vale of York Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), leaving the charities 'nervous' and 'concerned' for the future.

The contracts have been renewed for just the first quarter of 2017/18, leaving the organisations uncertain about what will happen beyond June 30.

Two contracts are with Age UK York to run a 'Home from Hospital' service, under which paid staff and volunteers help elderly patients settle safely back in their homes after treatment in hospital - a service which can help prevent bed-blocking.

Chief officer Sally Hutchinson said: "We are concerned about the future of the service, which saves the CCG a considerable amount of money but more importantly provides a high quality service to vulnerable patients at a difficult time."

Another two are with the York Blind and Partially Sighted Society. One part-funds a service to support people losing their sight and the second part-funds the charity's equipment and information centre in Rougier Street, which features more than 300 different items of equipment which can be of help to people suffering from partial sight and blindness.

The charity's chief officer, Diane Roworth, said: "The uncertainty over the future of these contracts, which are due to run out very shortly, makes us very nervous. They are not for large sums of money but the services they support are very important."

A further contract is with the York Older People’s Assembly (YOPA), so it can provide a voice for older people while health priorities are being set by the CCG. Its chair Bob Towner said it seemed the CCG was looking at budgets of 'peanuts' while it had much bigger nuts worth millions of pounds to crack.

Another contract is with the York Council for Voluntary Service (CVS), whose chair, Jane Hustwit, said: "We don't know what is happening from July onwards, so York CVS has offered to work with both the CCG and the funded organisations.

"In this way, we can make sure we understand CCG priorities and then work together on how best to deliver them."

A CCG spokeswoman said all services directly commissioned by it were subject to regular monitoring and review.

"In March 2017, as part of their biannual review, voluntary care sector providers were asked to provide monitoring information for the contracts they are commissioned to deliver," she said.

"The latest request for up-to-date activity and outcomes information from voluntary sector providers is not unusual. It follows up on previous requests and analysis by the CCG in 2013 and 2015.

"In conjunction with York CVS, the CCG is now assessing the current contracts to ensure they meet the needs of the contract and the CCG’s strategic objectives to deliver its operational and financial plans."