Crippling cuts to hit 13 London hospitals

At least three of six district general hospitals due to see services scaled down or closed in north-west London were identified in the Integrated Strategic Plan.

This brings the total number of hospitals in London known to be at risk to 13.

The 72-page document makes clear that it seeks to "reduce the level of acute services on the Ealing (hospital) site."

It also reported that "the board of West Middlesex Hospital Trust has recently clarified that it does not believe that its organisation has an independent future."

In addition, Central Middlesex hospital is also identified as facing further downgrading of services to reduce it to a "local hospital."

There are fears that key services at Hillingdon, Chelsea and Westminster and Hammersmith hospitals could also be scaled back, leaving just St Mary's, Northwick Park and Charing Cross as "major acute" hospitals and meaning long journeys for patients from many parts of outer London needing hospital care.

The cutbacks are part of a programme launched by NHS London which it admits could axe up to a third of hospital beds in London.

From the most recent Department of Health bed figures from the capital, that could mean a massive 5,600 front-line beds to close from a total of 16,868.

The figures were highlighted last month in a critical British Medical Association report On the Brink which linked the large-scale cuts to NHS London's goal of cutting over £5bn from health spending in the capital by 2017.

On the Brink author and founder of health-care pressure group Health Emergency John Lister said: "This is a problem that will gnaw away at the support of whichever party wins the election, with a succession of high-profile and possibly chaotic changes and cutbacks in the NHS, tearing the heart out of the existing hospital network and axing thousands of health workers' jobs."

The Department of Health was unable to comment at the time of going to press.