Everything possible is being done to perfect plans to avoid a winter crisis, according to North Yorkshire health chiefs.

Officers from York Health Trust, North Yorkshire Health Authority and North Yorkshire County Council gave an update on their plans to members of York and District Community Health Council last night.

Colin Watts, the trust's general manager, said the busiest time over winter was always the first week of the New Year.

But he said plans being put in place by a local winter planning group, made up of different organisations, should avoid a crisis.

"If we have an absolute disaster - two to three feet of snow on the ground with every citizen over 70 with chest conditions and staff going down with flu, we will struggle, but with a fair wind, we think we have done everything possible to get the plans in place."

He said the problem of trying to get people in for pre-arranged operations, at the same time as having enough beds for patients coming in, was not just a winter problem now, but an all-year-round problem. But he said a recent visit by a "flying squad" of health inspectors had found the area had set up robust plans for this winter.

He said January would see the introduction of teams of nurses who would be trained to see if people required "intermediate care" - care between hospital and home which would involve a "package of support" in the home. York Primary Care Group was also buying bed places in local nursing homes, so that if a patient needed a bed they could be admitted into a nursing home if they needed a more secure environment than home.

An elderly services reception area, with ten beds, had been opened at the hospital, so patients could be assessed and diagnosed before going up to a ward.

Mr Watts said: "On a significant number of occasions when that assessment has been done, the patient can be discharged home. Sometimes the patient just needs a change of drugs."

He said a "critical care outreach team" was in place, led by a nurse consultant, who advised nurses on how to look after patients who had high dependency but did not need to go to the intensive care unit.

More money was coming in from Government to pay for places for elderly people who needed permanent places in nursing homes to tackle so-called "bed-blocking".

All staff had also been offered flu jabs.