Boris at odds with Ken over plan for NHS 'polyclinics'

The Mayor has given his backing to Lord Darzi's NHS blueprint to set up 150 large "polyclinics" while cutting beds at some maternity and A&E units.

Critics claim the proposals will put some hospitals at risk of being downgraded or closed but Mr Livingstone believes the plans present a "compelling vision" of future healthcare in the capital.

He said the scheme makes financial sense, although he believed Londoners would be more likely to accept the changes if the polyclinics were "fully operational" before existing services were scaled back.

His support put him at odds with the Tory Mayoral candidate, who warned that access to services across the capital would actually decrease.

Mr Johnson said the scheme, which would cost £3billion, was untested. "It threatens the closure or downgrading of existing services, breaking the Londoner's link with their family doctor," he said. " Increasing their travel to see the doctor will reduce access to healthcare, not improve it.

"But despite the threat to local services, the incumbent Labour Mayor backs them. The Mayor should be fighting London's corner. Despite the concerns of ordinary Londoners, the Mayor is silent."

At present, London's Mayor has only limited powers over public health but the Government is expanding these to give him a new duty to reduce health inequalities in the capital.

Mr Johnson called for a moratorium on existing proposals to cut hospital services and urged the Government to name which ones were under threat so patients and professionals could be properly consulted on the changes. Campaigners claim dozens of local hospitals in London face being downgraded and a handful could be shut under the shake-up proposed by Lord Darzi.

They say those at risk of losing services include Queen Mary's Sidcup, the Royal Free in Hampstead and Hammersmith Hospital. Under separate proposals, Chase Farm could lose its A&E department and maternity unit, which would transfer to Barnet hospital 10 miles away, or North Middlesex Hospital, five miles away.

Lord Darzi, a surgeon appointed by Gordon Brown, suggested the 32 acute trusts operating in London should be replaced by 15 super-hospitals each with a catchment area of around 500,000 patients. There would also be three hospitals for patients with life-threatening injuries and another five specialising in the treatment of stroke victims.

More than half of patients in the city would be treated in 150 new polyclinics instead of outpatient departments at local hospitals within 10 years. These clinics would provide about 50,000 people with a range of round-the-clock services, including GP care, dentistry, sexual and mental health treatment and minor surgery.

Local hospitals are likely to be converted into treatment centres specialising in routine operations or patient rehabilitation.