Frontline midwifery staff are to be cut at St George’s Hospital in Tooting, it is understood.

A source told the Wandsworth Guardian 20 midwife posts are being deleted and two maternity consultants, who were taken on six months ago, are also going.

The whistleblower claimed it was in response to the hospital’s recently revealed £10m deficit, although a spokeswoman for the hospital insisted the “restructuring” was due to a “decline in activity”.

She said staffing levels are adjusted in relation to activity and the trust would retain one midwife for every 27 women, a figure known as the gold standard.

The consultant jobs, she explained, were also part of the restructuring in which roles were being combined.

Last year, we revealed the hospital was on course to make a staggering £91m of savings in just two years.

The trust’s cost improvement programme revealed targeted savings for the 2014/15 financial year of £45.2m and a further £45.8m this year.

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Sadiq Khan, former Tooting MP and prospective Labour Parliamentary candidate, said: “Like so many local residents, I love St George's Hospital. I was born there, as were my children, but this latest news makes me worried about about the road ahead for our friends and neighbours and our families futures.

“Since I became the MP for Tooting in 2005, and as a councillor for 12 years previous, I have seen firsthand how hard all of the hospital staff work. Yet a result of this government's mismanagement of our NHS, St George's is in crisis. They have been forced to make staggering cuts of £90m over two years, and now have a deficit of £10m - is it any surprise that they are having to cut frontline staff?

"This is why I will be working flat out over the coming weeks to make sure we have a Labour government after May 7, which will inject much needed funds to save and transform our NHS and St George's."

In a statement, a St George’s Hospital spokeswoman referred to the number of midwives being taken on this week and month, however, these were not additional posts and are, in fact, staff replacing vacancies.

The statement said: “St George’s routinely reviews and adjusts staffing levels to meet changes in patient demand.

“We continue to recruit experienced midwives with six expected to start in the next month, and 10 more appointed this week.

“A further three consultant midwives have joined the trust this year.

“Each are a valuable asset to the maternity service and care provision for women choosing to give birth at St George’s.”

In response to an allegation that staff losses would be covered by agency staff, the spokeswoman said: “Both the internal bank of midwives and agency midwives are used as a last resort to meet any unexpected staffing shortfall. This ensures that women continue to receive one-to-one care from a midwife when in established labour.”

More to follow.