IN yesterday’s Telegraph & Argus we reported ambitious plans by Bradford Council to cut the number of people living in care homes in the district by 20 per cent as part of a bid to reduce its care budget by £16 million over the next two years.

The commendable plans included providing new facilities, equipment and initiatives to make it easier for more people to stay in their own homes - but we expressed concern it would be a tough ask to do so in the face of the swingeing cuts.

Just 24 hours later, we can exclusively reveal that the pressures on care in the community are even greater than we imagined.

The evidence comes in the shape of the formal response to the Council’s budget consultation by none other than the Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust, the body which provides mental and community health services across the district.

In short, it says the Council’s budget plans will lead to cuts in frontline services, unsafe workloads in areas such as health visiting, a rowing back of mental health support to provide only basic medical treatments and even potentially increased risks to the public from reductions in service for drug and alcohol abusers after their release from prison.

At the same time, the Trust reveals that some community nurses are already having to go well beyond their remit to bathe, dress and feed patients at home who are not able to properly look after themselves.

None of which gives us any confidence that helping more people to stay at home will be anything like as easy as the Council thinks.