St Helier Hospital is at the centre of a political row after the local Conservative Party accused Labour of "scaremongering" over claims an NHS trust has launched a consultation into its closure.

Siobhain McDonagh, MP for Mitcham and Morden, said she had been informed of the consultation by Daniel Elkeles, chief executive of Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust, last month.

She said the consultation, focusing on a preferred site for a new “super hospital”, was due to be held as early as May 21 but has now been pushed back until July.

The trust runs insisted there were no plans for any consultations and said it wanted to work with the Labour MP to improve the hospital.

Wimbledon Times:

But Ms McDonagh accused the trust of being disingenuous and said she personally discussed the plans with Mr Elkeles by telephone on April 27 and via email on April 28 this year.

She said: "I’m 120 per cent sure this is going to happen.

“They are being disingenuous. They know they have got a consultation coming.”

She believes that, if a new hospital was built in Sutton, St Helier would be drastically stripped back and lose vital services including accident and emergency and maternity, if not closed altogether.

April 14 2015: Secret plans to close Epsom and St Helier and build new "super hospital" overheard on train

Jerome Neil, Labour candidate for the upcoming by-election in Merton Council's St Helier ward, has distributed campaign leaflets warning a new consultation into closing the hospital was due.

But Conservative candidate, Sue Edwards, and others on social media, has dismissed his claims and accused him of scaremongering.

Mr Neil said: "It’s been clear from day one what the chief executive’s priorities are and I think the people of St Helier see it’s not just a review into a new site. They want to take the hospital away."

However, Ms Edwards said: “There is no consultation in the pipeline to discuss the closure of St Helier.

“Rather than debate their cuts to adult social care, Labour are bringing into the fray St Helier. They are just trying to scaremonger residents.”

March 3 2016: Epsom and St Helier Hospitals' patients invited to give feedback in next stage of Estates Review public consultation

Director of communications at the trust, Tim Hamilton, described talk of a consultation on a closure as “totally incorrect and unhelpful”.

He said: “We have no plans for a consultation on anything. We have been doing some work with our communities to understand what they want from the hospital but we are nowhere near to a consultation.

“We have said we will provide the same services at Epsom and St Helier up until 2020, but the old buildings won’t allow us to operate safely after that. We are trying to come to a place where we understand what’s needed where and what buildings we need.”

July 1 2015: £500m needed to improve Epsom and St Helier hospitals' buildings deemed 'not fit for purpose'

Mr Hamilton added the hospital must wait for the NHS to release new planning guidance into sustainability and transformation plans before they can decide on any options for the future of the hospitals. The new guidance is expected to be published in June.

Dave Ash, a founding member of Keep Our St Helier Hospital campaign, said no serious evidence had been put forward to establish new hospital buildings even needed to be built.

He said: “Let’s see the evidence. Beyond a few photos of peeling paint and falling windows we have been shown no evidence as to why they need to replace the buildings.

April 17 2015: Councillors demand release of secret plans to close St Helier and Epsom hospitals

“If the decision to close the hospitals goes ahead here to make a ‘super hospital,’ although I would not call it that myself, we could see something similar happening here, which is concerning considering our higher catchment area and growing population.

“If we are talking about reducing the number of beds to 800, I think people will die."

A by-election will be held on Thursday, May 19, to elect for a St Helier councillor to replace the late Maxi Martin, who died on April 6.

To read Jerome Neil's statement, click here. 

To read Sue Edwards' open letter, click here. 

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