LAB workers at Colchester General Hospital face an uncertain future after bosses agreed to move services to Ipswich and Cambridge.

A total of 150 jobs in biochemistry, cellular pathology, haematology and microbiology are at risk.

If the merger is approved next month, it would mean non-urgent analysis, for instance blood tests taken at GP surgeries, will be sent to Ipswich or Cambridge rather than Colchester General.

Urgent tests will still be carried out in Colchester.

It would save Colchester’s hospital trust and six other trusts a combined £9million a year.

The plan still has to be agreed by the Strategic Health Authority.

Barbara Rush, the hospital’s Unite union lead representative, said workers have not known what the future holds for nearly a year.

She said: “We don’t know where the work is going to go and whether staff will be able to follow.

“Nobody knows anything yet, which is why the staff are facing a very uncertain future.

“Obviously it’s starting to creep more into staff’s minds about what is or is not going to happen.

“We’re obviously still doing a very good job and sending out quality reports and I think it’s a testament to the staff that they’re managing to do that.”

Mike Baker, the hospital’s finance director, insisted many tests, including urgent work sent by medics at the accident and emergency department, would still be analysed at Colchester General Hospital.

He said: “If that goes ahead, then all the staff in the pathology services in the hospitals would become part of the joint venture staff.

“Then over time, there would be a selection process to decide how many staff would stay at satellite sites.

“Fortunately, Ipswich would be classified as close enough to drive to, so they would be able to apply for those jobs.

“At the end of it there might be some people being made redundant. There is considerable uncertainty to the future of the hospital staff, which we are concerned about.”

The health authority could reject the proposal and order tests taken at GP surgeries to be analysed elsewhere in the region.

If they approve it, more detailed plans setting out how many workers would be employed at each hospital will be drawn up.

Mr Baker said the aim was for patients to have shorter waits for test results, as samples would be collected from surgeries more often.

The NHS has ordered hospitals to save money and improve services by coming up with plans to merge pathology departments, where lab tests are carried out.

Colchester General has joined forces with six other trusts, including Mid Essex.