A member of the shadow health team has slammed proposed cuts at St Helier Hospital.

Andrew Gwynne, a Labour MP for Denton and Reddish, paid a visit to the Carshalton and Wallington Labour Party fundraising dinner on Tuesday, November 27.

He said the proposed changes to healthcare in this part of the country had "national significance".

He said: "This is being cost driven and it will be to the detriment of health in this part of the country.

"From the information I have seen they are told [SW London] has to make £370 million pounds of savings.

"It appears at face value that it’s cost driven - a quick and easy win for the hospital administrators.

"It is poor St Helier that is getting squeezed in the middle.

"If it appears as it seems - we can’t allow this to happen. This will be taken by the NHS Trusts up and down the land as an example of how they can take cuts out of the system.

"I don’t want to see St Helier lose vital services and in a few years time the health service come under so much pressure it can’t cope.

"I think cost driven reconfiguration will become the norm unless we say no. The only arrangement should be about better clinical outcomes."

The Better Services Better Value Review proposed that St Helier Hospital should be the hospital in SW London to lose its accident and emergency and maternity departments.

However, after the recent collapse of Epsom’s merger with Ashford St Peter’s assessments need to be carried out again which take into account residents, stakeholders and clinicians in Epsom and surrounding areas.

Chair of the Carshalton and Wallington Labour Party, Andrew Theobald, said: "I think from our point of view in Carshalton and Wallington it is extremely encouraging that a member of the shadow front bench health team is prepared to come in and take an interest in the problem and is clearly supportive of our campaign to save St Helier Hospital.

"The key message that came through from Andrew Gwynne was what the Labour Party is absolutely committed to which is patient care.

"Clearly if the services are moved from St Helier patient care will suffer and that’s not what we want to have."