Hundreds of council workers in Staffordshire will transfer to the NHS in a shake-up of care in the community which will save £30 million a year.

The Department of Health has given the go-ahead to the radical move, backed publicly by Prime Minister David Cameron.

Bosses say it will end confusion over care.  It will also see more residents kept out of hospitals and instead looked after in their homes.

But critics have warned hospitals could close if widely implemented, as ordered by Mr Cameron.

Under plans 970 social care workers will transfer from Staffordshire County Council to the newly formed Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Partnership NHS Trust, which will have an annual budget of £153m. The trust is expected to launch in April.

It is the first trust in the country to combine NHS medical treatment and social care, the help given mainly to old or disabled householders who live independently.

Health policy experts claim the changes will make life more convenient for patients, improve care and save the NHS money.

Staffordshire health boss, county councillor Matthew Ellis, said the system had been carefully honed over more than two years and would deliver real benefits.

Recovery from even the most serious ailments, such as severe strokes, could be overseen in the home without a patient being admitted to hospital, he said.

“Twenty-five per cent of people end up going to hospital when there is absolutely no need, and it costs three to seven times as much as it would to treat them at home,” he said.

“This is about improving the experience of patients, moving away from a default position of hospital care towards the community sector. It will mean less confusion and a faster, smarter, local service.”

By Mark Mudie