Pregnant women could find themselves being turned away from St George's Hospital due to a new cap on the number of births it handles, it has been claimed.
Sadiq Khan, MP for Tooting, has criticised a decision to impose a cap of 5,128 births a year, starting from Monday, August 8.
According to Mr Khan, bosses have been forced to limit the number of births in order to maintain what he described as "a safe service at the hospital".
The change means that women outside of a newly established catchment area will have to go elsewhere to access maternity services, even if St George’s is their nearest hospital.
Mr Khan said: "The Tory-led government promised no cuts to frontline NHS services - this shows just how empty that promise was.
"Women in the area rely on St George’s to provide vital support throughout the course of their pregnancy - this cap means many local women will be forced to go to hospitals further away, which will be difficult for many.
"I have sought reassurances from St George’s that local women and high risk cases will not be turned away under any circumstances."
Fears a cap on births would be introduced were made earlier this year when St George's revealed it was looking to save £55m in response to the Government’s £20bn NHS cuts programme. Union Unison also warned this could result in staff cuts and wards and beds being lost.
From August 8, the Tooting hospital will only accept referrals for women with low risk pregnancies living within postcode sectors SW2, SW4, SW8, SW11, SW12, SW15, SW16, SW17, SW18, SW19, SW20, CR4 and SM4.
It will also accept high risk/complex referrals and referrals for late transfers of maternity care women who were previously booked elsewhere if there are potential problems, or they have moved into one of the above postcode sectors and are not already booked with another local provider.
A spokesman for St George's said: “St George’s is a popular maternity unit among local women and we are deeply sorry for having to restrict choice for some of these patients. Our prime concern however will always be the safety of our patients.
“The maternity unit at St George’s Hospital was originally designed to accept 3,000 deliveries each year. Capping the number of deliveries at 5,128 is necessary in order to ensure the safest possible environment for new mums and their babies.
“St George’s Healthcare has worked closely with local GPs to make sure that local women and those who are at high risk of complications during pregnancy are prioritised.
“The provision of post-natal care has not been affected by this measure and women who are at high risk of complication during pregnancy will also be unaffected.”
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