Home care workers who demonstrated outside York's Guildhall went away triumphant when they won a change of heart over council plans to transfer home care to the private sector.

Heather Taylor, Unison's deputy convenor for home care, leads the protest outside the Guildhall in York.

Over 20 staff who branded a cost-cutting pilot scheme a failure said the council had listened to reason in bringing the project to a close.

The council announced its dramatic U-turn after a month-long campaign by staff highlighting what they claimed were the flaws in care provided by independent agencies.

Home care worker Maureen Briggs, speaking at the meeting, said inexperienced agency staff were unable to carry out basic procedures including replacing catheters, emptying chemical commodes and operating hoists to help disabled people upstairs.

Coun Bob Fletcher, chairman of the joint social services and housing services sub-committee, said the scheme, introduced in August, would be halted on December 1 if the Social Services Committee backed their proposals.

He said regrettable anxiety had been caused by the scheme, which the council had hoped would make savings of between £100,000 and £300,000 across the city in a year.

If councillors vote to stop the scheme, no new patients will be recruited, but over 250 elderly people who currently receive private care under the council's "Best Value" experiment will continue to do so.

Their progress will be independently monitored by a joint review team in the New Year.

A council spokesman said today the experiment was not a cost-cutting exercise so there would be no need to find savings elsewhere if the scheme was abandoned.

Mrs Briggs, a carer for nine years, said of private carers: "This is a victory for elderly people. A lot can't speak for themselves and we're their voices. The public did not know what was going on. They didn't know how unsettled our clients were."

Heather Taylor, deputy convenor for community services, said she could not believe the council's decision.

"It's brilliant - we've got our customers back. I think the council have learnt their lesson. They have completely overturned their decision and stopped the trickle of privatisation, which is what we wanted."

Convenor of community services, Peter Household, who led the campaign against transferring home care to the private sector, said the decision was a welcome victory for all the home carers who had stood up for what they believed in.

"I wasn't expecting that decision, but it was a very pleasant surprise. The council has proved itself willing to listen to the reasoned arguments put forward by Unison and the home carers."

Mr Household added that he was confident the service provided by council home carers would shine when compared with the private packages by a joint review body.

"I would prefer for those 250 people not to be cared for privately, but at least there won't be any more than 250. There is a strong compulsion with the council to save money so I cannot be totally confident, but it will be extremely difficult for them to propose the service should be privatised."

see COMMENT 'It pays to listen'

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