Government 'paving way for London casualty units to shut'

More A&E departments in London could be shut because they are not on a country-wide "safe list", MPs warned today.

Health minister Simon Burns sparked fears of closures after telling MPs that hospitals in some counties would get a special "designated" status to keep key departments open.

He believes London A&Es would not be included. Labour immediately accused the Government of "paving the way" for casualty units to shut.

Giving evidence to a committee of MPs examining the Health and Social Care Bill, Mr Burns said: "A designated service will be one to ensure that there is - across the country - the relevant services to meet the needs of people.

"With regard to A&E, I suspect the answer is No in London. It will not be a designated service ... There are a significant number of A&E services in London so there would not be a need to designate them.

"If one was talking, for example, about a predominantly rural area, like Cornwall, then A&E services would be designated there to ensure that there is the provision of the service for the people of that rural area. That will be the pattern throughout the country."

Mr Burns hit back at Labour accusing the Opposition of "scaremongering".

He stressed ministers would not be "micro-managing" which major services are designated but that this would be a matter for the NHS commissioning board in consultation with clinicians and other groups.

Labour seized on Mr Burns' comments after the Conservatives pledged in their election manifesto: "We will stop the forced closure of A&E."

Shadow health secretary John Healey said: "David Cameron said he would protect the NHS but it is now clear he is paving the way for a wave of A&E closures across London and beyond.

"Everyone remembers the airbrushed posters, but the truth is the NHS is David Cameron's biggest broken promise to date."

Mr Burns hit back saying: "Labour are scaremongering. There is no green light to close A&Es."