A Hampshire care home could close after council chiefs agreed to look into plans to run its services elsewhere.

Labour council chiefs say the proposals to shut Brownhill House in Southampton will help to provide a more efficient service for thousands of residents, but opposition councillors fear it could result in the loss of experienced care workers.

Labour adult social care chief Dave Shields said: “We are going to be integrating our rehabilitation systems and bringing the teams together in one structured management under the NHS which we will achieve better outcomes and a more effective use of resources which we hope will realise the best part of £1m a year in savings.

“We will achieve that by reducing probably one eighth of the total number of care staff across health and social care.

“It may mean that we will no longer need to use Brownhill House which has a fairly low usage rate."

He said health and adult social care was “not exempt” from widespread budget cuts but said he hoped no member of staff would be made redundant.

Conservative Opposition leader Jeremy Moulton said: “At the moment this service is not working as well as it should because we have delayed discharges from hospital so it’s not about replacing the service it’s about making it more effective.”

English Futures Party independent councillor Andrew Pope said he supported integration, but only if there were no redundancies with staff being redeployed to other facilities and money from the savings being reinvested in Millbrook Library, which the council will no longer run.

He said he also wanted questions answered about the future use of the Brownhill House site and to ensure that services were actually maintained or expanded.

Independent anti-cuts councillor Keith Morrell added: “This could result in the loss of dozens of professional, experienced, heavily-valued and caring staff that are too valuable to lose.”

If given final approval the plans would see community reablement, rehabilitation and hospital discharge services currently run by the council and three health bodies.

The proposals are part of the council’s Better Care plan which they hope will see healthcare provided for residents in a more coordinated way.

Currently teams from the council, Solent NHS Trust, Southern Healthcare and University Hospital Services all provide certain health services for residents, including crisis response, rehabilitation and reablement services for those recovering from serious injuries and illnesses.

Civic chiefs say the new plans would see an integrated team working together to provide a “seamless response” for patients that helps to better support residents in their own homes and communities.

But if they are approved it would see Brownhill House in Lower Brownhill Road, which currently offers rehab and respite day services, close.

That would put 41 members of staff at risk of losing their jobs while nine other managers in the council and at the Solent NHS Trust could also be made redundant.

The council says the current service would be replaced with a “more appropriate and cost-effective balance of bed based and domiciliary care services that meets needs of clients and would deliver better outcomes”.

The council says up to £825,000 could be saved annually if the proposals go ahead from next April.

Consultation has started and a final decision is due next year.