Stafford's County Hospital A&E announcement due by Christmas

The department has provided a 14-hour emergency service since 2011, but health secretary Jeremy Hunt raised hopes that 24 hour cover would return during a visit to the town on the general election campaign trail.

Hospital bosses say a return to round-the-clock services would be impossible, but changes are planned.

At a public meeting health chiefs at the University Hospitals of North Midlands Trust said that they are looking at a range of options, including extending the opening hours at A&E and introducing GP services, but would not elaborate on the plans.

Michael Tyson, of the Baswich and Weeping Cross community group, quizzed bosses about the A&E department at the board's annual general meeting this month.

He said: "Most people would say they are happy with health services in Staffordshire in the main, but the one bug-bear remains the issue of 24 A&E at Stafford.

"Most people are concerned about where they will go if they are ill in the night? Will it be Wolverhampton, Burton-on-Trent or somewhere else?

"That is the main concern I have heard.

"I think a lot of people would feel better if there was 24-hour cover of some sort, even if it was a case of just finding out what the problem is before sending patients somewhere else."

In response UHNM chief executive Mark Hackett said: "We have picked that up as a concern. We will be announcing changes in relation to that around Christmas.

"We are looking at options, looking at the idea of GPs based in the A&E department. Because so many services have moved from Stafford, supporting inpatient care, it is not possible to deliver a full consultant led A&E. We haven't got the back up."

Trust spokesman Andrew Ashcroft was unable to shed anymore light on the forthcoming announcement adding: "At the moment it is very much a case of watch this space."

County Hospital has met the required national standard for 95 per cent of patients attending A&E to be dealt with within four hours for most of 2015.

But due to increased pressure at Royal Stoke University Hospital in the north of the county the trust's overall performance was around 91 per cent at the beginning of August.

The trust has told NHS England it will achieve the 95 per cent benchmark at both hospitals by November.

Andrew Donald, chief officer of Stafford and Surrounds, Cannock Chase and South East Staffordshire and Seisdon Peninsula CCG, said: "No, there are no plans to change the opening hours of the A&E at County Hospital.

"We have been asked to review whether it is possible to reopen overnight a level of service but not a full A&E service. This work is underway and will form a report to the CCGs' Governing Bodies later in the year.

"Any proposals will have to be clinically or financially sustainable in order to be considered viable.

"One option for a service overnight which is not an A&E would require different practitioners to be involved. Potentially, this could include GPs.

"We are constantly looking at the best possible way to provide care that has the most benefit to local people, and where things need to be adjusted to improve outcomes and patient experience we are always will look at opportunities to realign services and introduce new services where we can."