A PATIENTS' group has called for a hospital merger to prevent a “meltdown” of services in north London.

Joyce Aslan has written to MPs and councillors as chair of the patients forum of North Middlesex Hospital, calling for the south Enfield hospital to be brought under the same trust as Chase Farm Hospital.

Currently Chase Farm is under the same administration as Barnet Hospital, and in the middle of a review led by Enfield Council in a bid to keep vital services running from it.

She said the forum is “alarmed at the continuing delay” in changes to hospital services across Haringey, Enfield, and Barnet, and put forward the proposed merger to protect services from decline.

She wrote: “We recognise the concerns of those who wish to preserve more of the present functions at Chase Farm, and wonder if a possible way forward would be to combine the management of both North Middlesex Hospital and Chase Farm under one Trust Board, which might enable a more flexible use of facilities at both hospitals, and possibly enable Chase Farm to retain more of its present functions.

“If this is a possible way of breaking the impasse and allowing things to move forward, then perhaps it would be worth considering.

“It would certainly be preferable to a meltdown in hospital provision at North Middlesex and Chase Farm, which might be the unintended consequence of further undue delay, and we present the idea for your consideration.”

The current proposals, from the boroughs' health trusts, to reconfigure hospital services and downgrade Chase Farm, have been put on hold by Health Secretary Andrew Lansley until at least the start of next month.

Enfield Council has been charged with leading efforts to come up with new plans for hospital services, but Ms Joyce warned: “It seems not to be understood that the financial viability of both hospitals is threatened by this halt in mid-stream, and that there is a danger to the continued provision of a proper hospital structure in Enfield and surrounding district.”

David Lammy, Labour MP for Tottenham, has also waded into the debate, accusing the Government of threatening the future of North Middlesex – a hospital which serves many Haringey residents – by allowing the new Enfield Council-led review.

He said: “The Government now look like they want to support hospitals in wealthier parts of London, and to forget about poorer Londoners.

“I am calling on the government to support Tottenham and Edmonton and to back North Middlesex.”

Mr Lansley has set a deadline of April 7 for any new plans for hospital services before he decides whether to let the health trust proposals stand or take the services in a new direction.