Dire warnings St George's Hospital will be overwhelmed if plans to close neighbouring accident and emergency (A&E) units go ahead have grown louder after new figures show the hospital is already having to take on thousands more emergency patients a year.

Retired Wandsworth GP Dr Mike Squires fears St George's Hospital will be flooded with patients if key units in St Helier Hospital and Epsom Hospital close - as suggested by the NHS review Better Services Better Value (BSBV).

Last week the London Ambulance Service (LAS) released figures which highlighted the pressure St George's is already under.

The LAS's figures showed that 32,884 patients were ferried to the hospital in 2012/13, an increase of 9.8 per cent, or 2,936 extra patients, compared to 2011/12.

The A&E unit at St George's already handles almost 150,000 patients making it one of the busiest in the country, and campaigners, patients and GPs fear any more will push the hospital beyond breaking point.

Dr Squires, who has led the local criticism of the review, said: "It will be absolutely overwhelmed, they can't even cope at the moment.

"If you have got more patients coming to St George's the stretched services which are at breaking point already will be just overwhelmed.

"More and more people are going to A&E because there is not the coverage there used to be in GP service.

"This farce has been going on since 2009. The BSBV exercise has cost taxpayers more than £4m so far and this year it is will cost another £1.8m."

In addition to increased ambulance patients, the hospital has also struggled with employee vacancy rates which have been languishing at around 10 per cent, which equates to 700 unfilled posts.

Dr Squires warned the proposals would put patients lives at risk and force pregnant women into longer journeys.

He said: "St George's is already under pressure, with 700 staff short.

"The time it will take to ferry seriously ill to hospitals across congested areas of south west London will lead to more deaths."

During a protest outside St George's on Friday to mark the 65th anniversary of the NHS, anti health cuts campaigners lobbied the hospital and vowed to carry on fighting BSBV.

Campaigners demanded the seven Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), set up to lead the review reject the cuts which will be back on the table at the end of summer.

More than 200 people signed a petition calling for the review to be rejected.

Tooting MP Sadiq Khan also delivered a letter to Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt signed by MPS from across the capital calling on him to reconsider.

Mr Khan said: "The Government needs to think again. We need a clear plan to tackle the pressures London hospitals are facing. It’s time Londoners’ voices were heard."

Dr Ros Given-Wilson, medical director at St George's, moved to allay fears.

She said: "It is important to remember that the Better Services Better Value proposals to reshape A&E services will go to public consultation before any decisions are made.

"If A&E services are to change in south west London, the changes will be implemented over a number of years rather than overnight, and not before significant investment in our own A&E so we can increase capacity and staffing to meet the extra demand for our services."

What is BSBV?

- Better Services Better Value (BSBV) is a local, clinician-led NHS programme to review the health services currently provided in our area.
- The programme is led by the seven Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs): Croydon, Kingston, Merton, Richmond, Surrey Downs, Sutton and Wandsworth.
- Prior to CCGs it was the responsibility of the area’s Primary Care Trust (PCT)
- Initial review recommended the closure of two A&E and maternity units in the south-west London area, and eight London-wide.
- Croydon University, St George's, St Helier, Kingston and Epsom were in the firing line with St Helier, alongside Epsom, favourites for the cut.
- Decision delayed until after summer following widespread patient protest

St Georges figures:

- St George's Tooting A&E ambulance patients = 32,884 cases in 2012/13 = 90 per day
- Numbers going up by 9.8 per cent or 2,936 people
- The Tooting hospital's A&E unit deals with 147,234 patients, a figure which is growing year on year.
- St George's already handles more than 5,000 births each year