FEARS are growing for the care of seriously ill elderly people, following plans to axe the jobs of nearly half the geriatric nurses at an NHS Trust.

The Mid Yorkshire NHS Trust, which runs services for half a million people in Dewsbury, Pontefract, and Wakefield, wants to cut 66 out of 139 full time geriatric nursing positions.

The Trust claims the move is part of a massive “transformation” of the service over the next 12 months.

But Kevin Terry, from union the Royal College of Nursing, said frontline care would be hit hard.

“We are really concerned about the impact on patient care,’’ he said.

“We want to see far more detail on how this service will be re-provided and how it is proposed to care for an increasingly elderly population in this part of Yorkshire.”

Mick Griffiths, from union Unison, blamed the move on having to make cuts because of the “exorbitant” costs of the new Pontefract and Wakefield hospitals being built.

But Tracey McErlain-Burns, chief nurse and director of patient experience at The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, said they were working to improve services.

She said: “The services provided by the Trust are being transformed over the next 12 months. For example, more care will be provided in the community when our new hospitals in Pontefract and Wakefield fully open. Some services for the most seriously ill patients will be provided from dedicated, specialist centres at Pinderfields.

“Our new Pinderfields Hospital is specially designed and planned with dedicated floors where we are bringing together all of our medical and surgical specialities. In the past we have cared for patients in general elderly wards. In the new Pinderfields Hospital patients will be cared for on the dedicated medical floor, according to their clinical needs.”

Elderly patients will still be cared for at the Dewsbury and District Hospital.

Ms Burns said: “This level of transformation means that the number of nurses working in some clinical services will need to change.Š We currently have over 1,100 nurses working in medical specialities.

“With our new ways of working, although the number of nurses in some medical areas will reduce, the overall number will increase slightly.”