Macclesfield Hospital’s A&E department could be downgraded, according to reports.

It is claimed that leaked documents have revealed plans for the emergency unit to be turned into a minor injury and illness unit (MIU) staffed by GPs.

Macclesfield’s MP has vowed to fight the withdrawal of any A&E services in the town.

David Rutley said he has been in talks with the East Cheshire CCG and had been shocked to discover that a Minor Injuries Unit was being considered as a replacement for the town’s A&E department.

He has called for health bosses to give clear answers.

He said: “In my conversations with the East Cheshire NHS Trust and the Eastern Cheshire Clinical Commissioning Group over recent months, I have been told that a Minor Injuries Unit has not been and will not be considered as a serious option for Macclesfield Hospital.

“The STP team and the CCG need to make that clear to the public. It should not be part of the STP process.

“I will continue to work with service providers, and other MPs, to ensure that vital A&E services continue to be provided at Macclesfield Hospital in the years ahead.

“It is important that vital health services, such as Accident &Emergency services, are safeguarded in Macclesfield, and for surrounding communities that use them, including Buxton, Leek, Congleton and Knutsford.”

Peter Hayes, a former Cheshire East Councillor and chairman of the East Cheshire NHS Trust, said it would be ‘nonsense’ and ‘dangerous’ to downgrade the emergency room.

Peter, who successfully fought against the closure of women’s and children’s units at the hospital in 2006, said: “They are suggesting that it’s manned by GPs which is ridiculous when it’s GPs who are sending people to A&E as it is.

“It took two years of my retirement to fight this last time and it was only with the intervention of three local MPs that we managed to save it.

“The only way we can stop this is for the three MPs to get together once again and fight this with everything they have got.

“Getting rid of an A&E in Macclesfield is nonsense and very, very dangerous.”

The BBC says documents given to them reveal that the move is aimed at plugging a massive NHS funding gap and would see patients with more serious conditions sent to Wythenshawe or Stepping Hill.

According to the BBC report, the plan - outlined in the Draft Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) - was written on October 21.

NHS bosses in Cheshire and Merseyside have played down talk of immediate closures, with proposals to downgrade A&Es removed from the latest draft, though they have not said how else they plan to make the savings.

The Macclesfield Express has contacted the Trust for a comment.

It comes despite reassurances from health boss who ruled out the closure of key services and job cuts at Macclesfield in July.

All local health care providers in England are currently drawing up STPs to make savings over the next five years.

Three other A&E departments, in Southport, Warrington and Knowlsey were also named as candidates to be downgraded in a draft version of the leaked STP.

A final version of Cheshire and Merseyside’s STP is expected to be released in the next few weeks.

In July health bosses at East Cheshire NHS Trust revealed a £24m deficit.

They blamed additional spending pressures, the loss of key dental contracts, and its spending on extra staff to plug job vacancies, including the current 40 unfilled nursing posts.