Hospital staff have raised concerns amid confusion over their future following a series of visits from not-for-profit health firm Locala.

Doctors, nurses and staff at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary, including members of the cancer department, have been called to meetings at the hospital hosted by Locala.

Locala, which has run community nursing in Kirklees since 2011, has recently won a £225m Care Closer To Home contract to expand services out of hospitals.

The contract is being challenged by bosses at Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust which also bid for the deal, but lost.

But Locala is pressing ahead with the implementation of the contract amid pressure to launch some services this autumn.

Following the first of three meetings over the past few weeks, a hospital worker rang the Examiner to say staff in the cancer department were confused and worried about their future.

Health bosses have never mentioned any plans for cancer treatment outside the hospital.

But the source said staff, including Macmillan nurses, a consultant at the infirmary and a doctor working at Kirkwood Hospice, may be affected by the changes to care.

The Examiner understands there are no plan to alter in-patient cancer care at the hospital.

Locala confirmed it had hosted the first meeting on August 20 at the invitation of the hospital trust and had hosted two more sessions last week.

But it said it could not yet reveal what was planned.

But a worker who attended a meeting, who did not want to be identified, said staff were now worried about their jobs.

The source said staff were unaware of the changes and may now have to transfer their employment from the hospital or charity Macmillan – which provides some nurses – to Locala.

The source also said the lack of detail about the plans and the absence of any senior hospital staff left those present confused and fearful for the future.

A spokewoman for Locala said the meeting was to “...share information about Locala and the new clinical model.”

She said: “We weren’t involved in any decisions about who was invited to attend that session nor the two more sessions that were held this week.

“We are currently working with the commissioners and senior hospital colleagues on the fine details of the services in the model and it is still too early to talk about confirmed, definitive services.“