A FORMER NHS chairman has expressed concern at the cutting of the Community Response Team (CRT) for Hemsley, Terrington, Kirkbymoorside and Pickering GP practices.

Sir Michael Carlisle, who lives in Lastingham, said the service, which includes home visits too many vulnerable people on the day of their discharge from hospital, was vital in a rural community.

“This community service is provided by a multi-disciplinary team of 32 people based at Malton Hospital, who have dealt with about 650 GP referrals in the last two years, and the volume of letters of appreciation are evidence of its value,” he said.

“The patient value of this service is important, but the other considerable advantage is that it prevents high-cost bed-blocking in hospital, and increases capacity in the way Government policy encourages more integration between hospital and social care.”

Mr Carlisle said the CRT service had been funded by Scarborough and Ryedale Care Commissioning Group (SRCCG), assisted this year by a contribution from York CCG.

“York CCG has just refused to provide future funding for this service, and consequently the North Ryedale GPs will not have a CRT service, with immediate effect. Postcode lotteries are known, but rarely, if ever, for patients within the same Care Commissioning area, and this is discriminatory, as well as a great loss for the residents.”

Mr Carlisle said he had been involved with the NHS as a lay person for nearly 50 years, and former chairman of Scarborough and N E Yorkshire NHS Trust.

“My experience leads me to question the overall strategic policy that led to this unfair decision that will lead to a poorer NHS experience for patients,” he said.

A spokesman for the York CCG said: “The Ryedale CRT is a service that has been developed and commissioned by SRCCG and therefore this is not being decommissioned by the York CCG.

“While we recognise that patients have benefited, our strategy to commission Integrated Care Hubs remains. We will be inviting GPs to shape the services that will be available in Ryedale and we will be working with partners to explore how this could be funded.”