KINGSTON Hospital's A&E and maternity units could be axed as part of a shake-up of hospitals in south west London.

Local MPs Ed Davey and Susan Kramer told the Informer health chiefs have come up with a shortlist of two options - and one is to close Kingston's key services.

A report, which will help to decide which one of the four maternity and A&E units in the south west London region will be axed, has been prepared by consultancy firm McKinsey, commissioned by NHS London. Its publication has twice been postponed and will now not be made public until after the general election, which is expected to be in May.

But the MPs have blown the whistle as part of a pre-emptive campaign and have launched a dedicated website.

The pair were joined by Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, whose third child was born at Kingston Hospital last year, at the launch of the campaign last Sunday.

Helen Martin, a nurse at the hospital and its Unison representative, said staff would be devastated by the news, but feared saving Kingston Hospital alone might not be the answer. "They'll all be concerned about job security but there will also be concerns about how this could possibly work," she said. "All the units at all the hospitals in the review are stretched passed their capacity as it is – there's no slack in the system to absorb patients affected by any closures.

"Of course I back the campaign to save Kingston but I'd prefer to see action being taken to save all these hospitals – if another closed, the knock on effect in Kingston could be worse than closure."

Ed Davey, who represents Kingston and Surbiton, said he was prepared for the biggest campaign of his political career. "It ought to be unthinkable, yet it's been made clear to us that London NHS is actively considering closing Kingston's A&E and maternity," he said. "This would be totally unacceptable, so we have decided to act before it becomes a done deal."

Richmond Park's Susan Kramer, said the closure would mean her constituents had even further to travel to use emergency hospital services. "This would gut our hospital and local NHS. People would have to travel miles, on congested roads. The NHS bosses have no business keeping these ideas secret just because there's an election – that's exactly when people have the right to know. I just hope as many people as possible join our campaign so we can defeat this ludicrous idea before the election."

The south west London review is looking at all four hospitals in that catchment area – St George's in Tooting, May Day in Croydon, St Helier in Carlshalton and Kingston.

Geoff Martin, of London Health Emergency, said he was not surprised to hear Kingston was in the firing line. "St George's is seen as the big hospital in that area, and you've got to remember that this review isn't being carried out by people with a health care model in mind – it's being carried out by people who are thinking about budgets. Ever since they announced plans to close a third of hospital beds in London, it was clear there were going to be major changes. I think the people of Kingston and the surrounding area have really got to wake up and realise what's at stake. They've deliberately played down this review – it's a ticking time bomb under Kingston Hospital."

There were 5,600 births in Kingston last year – 700 more than at St George's.

A spokesman for Kingston Hospital said: "Kingston Hospital welcomes the debate on how healthcare provision is best organised in the future. Senior clinical staff have been working with NHS London on the south west London Review for some time now.

"Kingston Hospital has provided the local community with excellent maternity and A&E provision for many years and we look forward to continuing to provide an increasingly enhanced service to our community in the future."

www.savekingstonhospital.org.uk

NHS London 'no plans but no denials' - see page 2

A spokesman for NHS London said it had made no plans to close any services but did not deny the claims.

"Clinicians from across south west London are leading work to identify how we can improve the health and healthcare for local people. Clinicians believe we must improve the quality of care for local people and look at new ways of delivering care, such as providing better access to urgent care at hospital and in the community.

"This work is at an early stage and has not considered any specific sites for closure, not have the agreed any numbers of hospitals that will be required to deliver A&E, maternity, complex surgery, critical care or specialist children's care.

"Clinicians will be considering possible solutions to the challenges facing the sector, including more babies, an older population and potentially more illness increasing demand for healthcare services, and we will refine these ideas working with clinicians, patients and other stakeholders over the coming months."