CUTS at a Merseyside hospital will hamper patient care, a whistleblowing nurse told the Daily Post.

The medic said some ward closures pushed through earlier this year have already had to be reversed because they were poorly thought through.

And it is feared more closures planned for the New Year could cause distress to patients.

Nurses union The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has also received emails from staff alarmed at changes at Wirral University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, which includes both Arrowe Park and Clatterbridge Hospitals.

A new shift system has left nurses feeling “unable to provide adequate and safe care to patients” at Arrowe Park, the RCN said.

The hospital trust is trying to save nearly £42m from its budget within three years.

It said any ward closures were constantly reviewed so medics can respond to the shifting healthcare needs of the community.

Bosses also said they have a “winter contingency plan” to deal with the seasonal peak in demand for its services.

According to one whistleblower, two of the wards that were mothballed at Arrowe Park earlier in the year have had to have beds on them reopened, due to a lack of available beds elsewhere in the hospital.

Trust managers are also pushing ahead with plans to axe ward M2 at Clatterbridge Hospital, which is separate from the Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology, and cut ward M1 by 10 beds.

But nurses disputed hospital claims that the wards are under-used.