A MAJOR shake-up of healthcare across Worcestershire faces delay if Labour wins the General Election, it has emerged.

The move would have significant implications for the county's A&E sites, with a political row kicking off yesterday after Worcester's Conservative parliamentary candidate called it "irresponsible".

Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said he wants to "immediately halt" all A&E closures or downgrades, and place a series of detailed blueprints known as 'Sustainability and Transformation Plans' (STPs) under review.

Worcestershire's STP, which is out for consultation, spans 83 pages and involves a raft of measures like cutting community hospital beds, reducing back office costs by 20 per cent and greater collaboration with Herefordshire.

But the huge changes, which will take five years to fully kick in, come at a time when Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust wants £29 million of national funding to overhaul A&E and get extra capacity.

Yesterday Tory Robin Walker said any delays on the healthcare changes could jeopardise that money, calling it "a disaster".

He also said another "top-down re-organisation" of the NHS would only make the pressures on sites like Worcester royal worse.

"The county's STP was not created by politicians, it has been put together by clinicians in Worcestershire and we need to get on with it," he said.

"Delaying it for a 'review' would be irresponsible and undo the good work that's been done, it's also tied in with the £29 million our county needs to improve services.

"Labour has always said another top-down re-organisation of healthcare would be bad, but here we have another top-down re-organisation - it would be a disaster."

But Labour says the effective downgrading sites like the Redditch Alexandra Hospital needs to be scrapped, with Mr Ashworth calling the STP blueprints "chaotic".

"We have listened to patients and campaigners up and down the country that have been pleading with the Government to hear their concerns about local services," he said.

"Threats of hospitals being closed, A&E services moved miles up the road, and children’s wards being shut, have caused widespread concern and confusion - it's a disgrace.

"The public deserves better."

He said "every single STP proposal" would be placed under review and a new body, 'NHS Excellence', would be asked to lead a major new review.