Cllr Andy Bowden, cabinet member for Adult Social Care & Health, told a cabinet meeting the measures risked undermining local partnerships, damaging integration and shifting costs unfairly onto local councils.

Cllr Bowden, said: ‘The actions being taken do nothing to reduce costs across the system as a whole. They simply shift financial burdens from the NHS to hard-pressed local authorities. This is directly counter to the Government's 10-Year Plan for a neighbourhood NHS, where health and social care work hand in hand to improve outcomes locally.

‘All nine councils across Cheshire and Merseyside have raised these issues collectively with Metro Mayor, Steve Rotheram, local MPs and the secretary of state for health and social care. Legal action is now being considered, as some of the measures may be unlawful.

‘I have little confidence that the current recovery and turnaround approach being implemented by the ICB will deliver the savings required as well as maintaining good quality safe services for our residents.'

ICBs have been asked by the Government to cut costs by 50% by December 2025.

A spokesperson for NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB said: ‘NHS organisations across the country face an extremely challenging financial outlook in 2025-26. We want to be clear that we face a really significant challenge to deliver our financial plan in 2025.

‘Ensuring high-quality, safe services for our population will always be the key priority - and this will be at the forefront of our minds as we work to identify and implement solutions to the challenge in partnership with local authorities and other local partners.'