Birkenhead MP Frank Field has demanded assurances from the chief executive of Wirral Hospital Trust after it was revealed today Cheshire and Merseyside could be facing a massive £958m black hole in its health budgets by 2020.

Alarm bells sounded after an investigation found the NHS is drawing up plans to close services including A&E departments and district hospitals amid a dire funding crisis.

Experts warned there could be a "glut" of hospital services shut down as providers face a £23 billion national funding deficit.

The inquiry commissioned by campaign group 38 Degrees uncovered 44 "Sustainability and Transformation Plans" being drawn up across England to meet significant cuts.

The plan for Cheshire and Merseyside says that to meet their financial challenge hospitals in the region will need to be "reconfigured" and "consolidated" with "less sites."

There are no specific details included in the plan - but it says a "do nothing" option would create a budget deficit of £958m by 2020/21.

38 Degrees says that historically in the NHS "reconfiguration and consolidation" have simply meant cuts.

Wirral Globe:

The letter from Frank Field to Wirral's health chief David Allison

Mr Field immediately fired off a letter to David Allison, boss of Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, saying: "Might I please ask what this would mean for Wirral's healthcare system?"

The letter continues: "I very much hope that should a reconfiguration be required you would aim to make greater use of primary care facilities such as minor injuries units and walk-in centres.

"Might I therefore seek your assurance that primary care facilities will not be sucked back into Arrowe Park Hospital in an attempt to prop-up the hospital's own financial position?"

In March last year health watchdog Monitor - now part of of "NHS Improvement" - launched an investigation into the finances of Arrowe Park Hospital.

The probe aimed to understand why Wirral Hospital Trust was heading for an overspend of £5.5m.

A previous investigation by Monitor found the trust was taking steps to improve its finances.

However, the action plan had not improved the position as swiftly as the trust had projected.

Mr Field welcomed the inquiry at the time, attacking what he called the “ungovernability” of Arrowe Park.

38 Degrees said the analysis, carried out by health policy experts Incisive Health, "reveals far-reaching plans to close services, which appear to have had little input from patients and the public."

A spokesman for NHS Improvement said: "It is an essential part of the planning process for local areas to identify which services could be unsafe, under-used or unsustainable.

"It is absolutely right that decisions on the future of health services are taken locally in consultation with the people who use those services. That planning process is still going on and no decisions have been taken."

The findings come as Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents frontline NHS leaders, warned a "glut" of hospital services could shut down.

Mr Hopson called on Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt and NHS England boss Simon Stevens to admit there is a disparity between what the NHS is being asked to achieve and the money that is available to do it.