A 24-hour urgent care centre (UCC) proposed to replace St Helier's under-threat accident and emergency department could in reality open for only 12 hours a day, it has emerged.
In its business case to jusitfy the closure of the A&E department at St Helier, the NHS's Better Services Better Value (BSBV) review states all hospitals in SW London "would have a urgent care centres available 24 hours to be able to see patients with minor injuries or illnesses".
But in an apparent contradiction of the pre-consultation business case, an email exchange between health bosses seen by this newspaper reveals that the urgent care centre (UCCs), treating patients with minor injuries, could open for just 12 hours a day at St Helier hospital.
In the email thread members of BSBV discuss that they should not commit to 24 hours at this stage, and delivering 24/7 urgent care services is expensive and "may not be justified on all sites".
The UCC being open only 12 hours could see even more patients who currently uses St Helier's services having to travel long distances to other accident and emergency departments and urgent care centres that were open.
BSBV argue that A&E and urgent care services are not currently organised as well as they could be however campaigners are now accusing them of being misleading and not having a credible plan for the organisation of local healthcare.
Paul Burstow the MP for Sutton and Cheam said: "I think it’s pretty shocking. It’s just another bit of evidence showing why this is a flawed process and every time you scratch away at what’s being proposed you find something else not quite as they present it.
"They are saying one thing in public but a private email exchange says something quite different. This doesn’t build any kind of confidence in the people leading the BSBV programme board."
A spokesman for BSBV said the plans propose a networked system where local hospitals and out of hours GP services work closely and in that way patients will receive urgent care on a 24 hour basis.
He said: "If there was not sufficient patient demand for the centres to be open 24 hours a day, then the local CCG would need to make a decision on what hours they should be open, with the absolute minimum being 12 hours.
"The plans are subject to discussion during public consultation and a final version will have to be agreed by all seven clinical commissioning groups in the region."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here