THE FUTURE of Kingston Hospital looks safer this week as the new health minister pledged to scrap a cost-cutting scheme that could have seen its accident and emergency and maternity units axed.

The hospital became a key election point after Kingston and Surbiton MP Edward Davey and former Richmond Park MP Susan Kramer revealed documents that had been leaked to them, suggesting Kingston was on NHS London's hit list. They launched a campaign to protect it, but were accused of scaremongering by the then Conservative candidates Zac Goldsmith and Helen Whatley.

Despite dismissing the threat, they brought David Cameron for a walk-around during the general election campaign, and Nick Clegg twice visited the hospital, where his third son was born.

Following the election NHS London has continued work on its plans to cut costs across the capital, but this week new health secretary Andrew Lansley said he would order bosses back to the drawing board.

Mr Lansley told BBC London: "As promised, I am calling a halt to NHS London'[s reconfiguration of services. A one-size-fits-all approach will be replaced with devolution of responsibility to clinicians and the public."

Mr Davey said he hoped the publicity his campaign had gained and the strength of feeling locally would stand the hospital in good stead. "At the moment everyone is still getting used to their portfolios so it's been too early for formal discussions, but I think it's significant that both the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister have visited the hospital and both pledged not to hit key services. Given the high level of involvement we are far more confident but I am not opening the champagne yet – we remain aware and will be keeping a close eye on the situation."

Mr Goldsmith said David Cameron had confirmed the hospital would be safe under a Conservative government, and that he was confident Mr Lansley would fulfil this promise. NHS London insisted changes still needed to be made to the way healthcare is delivered in London.

Chief executive Ruth Carnall said: "Lord Darzi's Healthcare for London review showed that the current approach to delivering care in the capital wouldn't meet the needs of Londoners. Health secretary Andrew Lansley has said we must find a new way of meeting these same challenges. The secretary of state is clear that GPs must take the lead in deciding which services are provided locally. He is also clear that Londoners must have a bigger say on the shape of local services and be able to make informed choices on where they go to receive care.

"To support this, we will make available to the public as much information as possible on the quality of our services and provide substantial clinical evidence for any proposed changes. We will also build on the extensive clinical leadership we have developed across London in the past tow years. There are many doctors, nurses and other NHS staff who are more than ready and willing to take on this new challenge.

"NHS London remains committed to improving the quality of care we provide for everyone who uses the NHS in the capital. Over the next few months we will be working with GPs and other clinicians to understand how best to support them as they deliver the urgently needed improvements to London's healthcare."