Plans to downgrade three A&E units in Cheshire and Merseyside have been considered as part of NHS budget cuts, according to a leaked report.
Changes to units in Macclesfield, Warrington, Knowsley and Southport were outlined in a document, written on 21 October and seen by BBC News.
Asked to make £909m cuts by 2020, NHS bosses in Cheshire and Merseyside have played down talk of immediate closures.
They said any A&E changes would first need “a strong clinical evidence base”.
All local health and care providers in England are putting together five-year sustainability and transformation plans (STPs) designed to save money and “ensure services are built around the needs of local populations”.
Full story in BBC, 4 November 2016