HOME care for Rhyl patients must include 24-hour care according to a top doctor.
Patients bound for the Royal Alexandra Hospital will be treated at home by a specialist team including a GP, a specialist nurse, district nurses, therapists and social care workers under the Home Enhanced Care Service (HECS).
But a deal to get doctors to sign up is yet to be agreed with GPs meeting health bosses from Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board this week.
With HECS set to operate between 9am and 5pm, out of hours care for patients is a priority for doctors.
Dr Eamonn Jessup, vice chairman of North Wales Local Medical Committee, said: "We want the scheme to work. The 24-hour element is more important than the nine-to-five element. There has to be recognition that the major time when patients need care and attention and are most likely to call on secondary care is after 6pm at night.
"The HECS scheme has got to recognise that and put most of its funding, whether it is manpower or financial resources into that part of the day.
"The real black hole, the time when patients end up in casualty or as an inappropriate hospital admission is after 5pm when they can't get hold of their own primary care team."
Dr Jessup also said a new 44-bed community hospital for Rhyl and Prestatyn is needed to run in conjunction with HECS.
Dr Olwen Williams, the health board's chief of staff of Primary, Community and Specialist Medicine said: “We wish to reiterate that the ward will remain open until the new service is up and running.
"The Home Enhanced Care Service will ensure people get the opportunity to have care in their own home wherever possible. As part of this service we are exploring ways of providing support for patients out of normal working hours and we are discussing this with the GPs' Local Medical Committee.
“For the longer term, the health board remains committed to working with its partners, including local GPs, to develop modern healthcare facilities to support Rhyl and the surrounding area, and to further develop community based services closer to peoples’ own homes.
"This will take a number of years to complete.”
Patients are being assured that under the scheme those needing hospital care will get it.