GENERAL union GMB demanded yesterday that “outrageous” plans to shut a London hospital be scrapped, accusing the Tories of playing “Russian roulette with people’s lives.”

The union is angry at plans by NHS bosses to launch a consultation exercise in the new year that could lead to a hospital closing as NHS bosses try to balance the books.

One of five hospitals — Kingston, Croydon, St George’s, Epsom or St Heliers — is threatened with the axe, according to the NHS Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) for south-west London.

GMB southern region secretary Paul Maloney said the population served by the hospitals has been subjected to the “Tories’ guessing game” over their future.

He condemned the decision “to put forward a proposal to close one of the hospitals in the area” as “outrageous,” warning: “It’s high time the government and trust board stopped playing Russian roulette with people’s lives.”

Mr Maloney called the decision “shameful” and demanded its abandonment.