GPs have been told of fears that a staffing gap at Kingston Hospital "does not bode well" for emergency care this winter.

A report to be presented to doctors next week said the gap was "the key performance issue" for the department.

However, the hospital has been, and still is, hitting government targets for how quickly it should treat patients in accident and emergency.

Jill Pearse, head of governance for Kingston clinical commissioning group, said: "The staffing gap does not bode well for this winter if action is not taken."

A hospital spokeswoman did not say how wide the staffing gap was.

She said: "Kingston is one of the best performing A&E departments across the country for consistently meeting the four-hour target, and only one of four London hospitals that have 16 hours a day of consultant-led care.

"We have robust plans in place to deal with winter pressures across the hospital. As part of this we have increased the number of nursing posts in the A&E from April 2014."

Patients will be encouraged to call the NHS 111 helpline instead of going to accident and emergency.