PLANS to slash the home care budget in York have drawn further condemnation.

As reported in The Press, City of York Council officers have proposed cutting the budget by £316,000 next year, and by £950,000 in 2009/10 and 2010/11.

The council says the changes will not impact upon the quality of care, but council staff union Unison says such severe cuts would lead to 30 job losses and a devastating impact on care.

Unison branch secretary Ben Drake said clients would get either fewer or shorter appointments, and said the proposal was the "worst and unkindest" of all budget savings suggested.

Jeanette Brown, whose father Thomas O'Connell received home care until his death in September, today joined Unison in attacking the proposals, calling them "absolutely disgusting".

Mrs Brown, of Acomb, said: "If the care was dropped, most people would just end up in hospital, and I work in hospital and see that there are far too many elderly people in hospital already.

"It would have a knock-on effect on the hospital, and they're already in debt, so what would that do for the hospital?

"Cutting the budget for carers would increase the amount of time spent in hospital looking after the elderly, because they were not being looked after at home any more."

James Player, of Age Concern York, said: "If services to older people in the community are reduced by the council, that would cause us a great deal of concern.

"It would cause a lot of anxiety among the older population and their carers. Services to older people cannot be pared back any further, and cannot be reduced.

"We have an increasing elderly population in the city and people struggling to live independently and they cannot live in their own homes without the necessary level of assistance from City of York Council.

"It's extremely serious if they are intending to cut back on those services.

"This is a situation where help for elderly people seems to be going into reverse, instead of increasing to help people go on living independently.

"It's not going in the right direction."

The reduction in the home care budget is among proposals for adult social services, which were going before councillors today at Guildhall.