NHS staff are being laid off and blood services set to change for thousands of people – but no one knows how, or what will happen next.

A total of 15 members of staff are currently in consultation with Wirral’s Community NHS Foundation Trust (CT) after being told contractual changes meant their jobs were no longer needed.

The staff work for the body providing phlebotomy services to patients of 22 of 51 GPs across the borough, but the service has been described as "not good", with waiting times classed as being too long.

It was decided that, from July this year, the contract would be terminated, but with a proposal for an alternative model having already been rejected, it's not clear how it will be run from then on.

At a meeting of Wirral Council's adult care and health overview and scrutiny committee on Tuesday, fears were raised that people in need of blood tests wouldn't have access to them if no arrangements are made.

Speaking at the Wallasey Town Hall meeting, Cllr Sharon Jones said: "I would like reassurance that patients aren't let down with phlebotomy services.

"We don't know what’s going to happen, so I want reassurance there's contingency plans in place so patients aren't left without blood tests and their health put at risk as a result."

Responding to her concerns, Wirral Clinical Commissioning Group's chief officer Simon Banks said in April, the 22 GPs will respond with full details of the plans for how the new services will run.

Mr Banks said: "We would be confident of, by April 12, [having] plans back about what they are going to do about this. Clearly a proportion of people in those 22 practices are not getting the service they should be getting.

"I absolutely acknowledge that.

"If those plans are not sufficient there would be contingency plans in terms of asking other providers to step in to ensure phlebotomy services remain in place.

"We work very closely together with the CT on this. We understand each other's position."

The CT service currently provides pre-bookable appointments in the mornings at 13 locations, and in the afternoon at three walk-in hubs including St Catherine's in Birkenhead and Victoria Central in Wallasey, but is "oversubscribed".

Tuesday's meeting heard anecdotes of packed-out walk-ins and waiting times of several hours before being seen.

Plans were then agreed by 20 of the 22 practices, which would have reduced the total number of available locations for phlebotomy services down to eight, but would have "enabled more people to be seen", leading to "reduced waiting times".

Those proposals were, however, rejected by the Primary Care Co-Commissioning Committee in January due to a perceived "inequity of access" and not meeting the required specification.

The CT said it was working to ensure patients are "clear" about how services will change from July 1.

In terms of staff redundancies, Wirral CT said last month it was supporting the "small number of staff affected" and is working with them "to explore all possible options".

Their contracts are also set to conclude in July.

David Hammond, associate director for partnerships and strategic development, revealed at Tuesday's meeting how the formal consultation process with staff began last week.

He said staff have been kept informed "throughout the whole process", adding that their "views have been used to inform and redesign and redevelop" the system.

Phlebotomy staff carry out blood tests, often used to assess a patient's general state of health, detect infections or to see how well organs are working.

One of the other GP providers – the Wirral GP Federation, which has 25 of the other practices as its members, moved to reassure its own patients there will be no changes to its phlebotomy services.

A statement issued last month said: "We would like to categorically state that there are no problems with delivering this service and there will be no disruption to our patients.

"We would like to reassure the public and our patients that the service will continue to be delivered.

"If patients are in any doubt, they should check with their respective practice."