COMMUNITY nurses say patients could be put in danger by proposals to transfer some of their duties to health visitors.

North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust (PCT) says the move will free up community nurses to perform more complicated tasks.

But nurses say the proposal would be a backward step which could lead to serious conditions going undiagnosed

One staff nurse, who asked not to be named, said: "The district nurses have been trained to a high standard to take an holistic approach, looking at the patient as a whole and beyond the immediate problem. Are health visitors going to pick the things up that we would?

"There is very low morale among nurses because of these plans, and people are looking for other jobs."

Councillor John Blackie, chairman of North Yorkshire County Council health scrutiny committee, said: "This is clearly a drive to cut down on expenditure - nothing more, nothing less."

The PCT was unable to say whether the changes would lead to job losses.

Janet Probert, PCT's director of operations, said: "Community nurses are highly skilled and have the experience and expertise to deal with a wide range of patients' needs.

"The survey we carried out identified that in some areas highly skilled community nurses were often doing tasks that could have been done by other members of staff.

"By redistributing the workload so that certain tasks such as administrative duties, taking blood samples and parenting support are carried out by competent support workers, we can better use the skills and experience of community nurses to benefit those patients who need the support most."

The PCT has stressed that staff will not be asked to carry out duties they are not trained for.

Earlier this year, the PCT announced it was on schedule to break even after previously reporting debts of more than £43m. The debt arose when the trust was formed out of North Yorkshire's four previous PCTs in October last year.

PCT bosses will meet staff next week to discuss the changes.