A SHAKE-up of older adult mental health care services that would see more patients being treated closer to their homes, has been unveiled.

Although the plan could see the number of people receiving treatment increase ten-fold, concerns have been raised that staff would be spread too thinly across the county, reducing the quality of care patients currently experience.

Worcestershire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust said it believed that would not happen but bosses admitted they would need to help vulnerable people used to a particular type of care if the plans were agreed.

Health chiefs said they needed to modernise older adult mental health services so that it could start preparing for the “wave” of dementia they predict would hit the county over the next two decades.

At the county’s health overview and scrutiny committee meeting, Councillor Roger Berry said he was worried the plans would be like “spreading the jam thinner and thinner,” because it would mean a reduction in the amount of time each patient had for treatment.

Andrew Ferguson, associate director, said: “Some people might feel they will have a reduction in service.” However, the committee was told that patients who had entered the system since 2006 had been receiving treatment in a way similar to the plans being proposed.

If rolled out, it would see the community mental health team take on the responsibility of co-ordinating day care and interventions. Staff would be transferred from day hospitals and would provide assessment, treatment and therapy sessions in more facilities, including existing day hospitals.

Bosses said that by doing that they would be able to reach up to 2,500 people. The service currently deals with about 240 patients.

Of those, about 140 people used to the traditional treatment at one of the six day hospitals across the county would continue with that, because staff said they recognise that those patients need to be managed with care.

Councillor Penelope Morgan said she was concerned about the impact on carers.“I’d like to see a package ensuring they get respite and are given the correct support so they can go out and do shopping and have social interaction,” she said.

A decision on the plans will be made on Wednesday.