Henderson Hospital closure "an obscenity".

The decision was taken by South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust last Thursday after claims dwindling referrals were making the hospital's future unviable.

But opponents said that the Government's rearrangement of funding was the real nail in the coffin.

A year ago, the hospital received national funding, and had a six-month waiting list.

But then funding passed to the NHS trust, and referrals dwindled with just 12 beds out of 29 currently occupied.

Consultant psychiatrist Dr John Stephens said the closure would leave a gaping hole in mental health care.

He said: "There is no alternative to our service. All those community alternatives are a pale shadow of what we offer. We are very angry about this - it's an obscenity."

A former patient, who wished to be known as Kath, said the hospital saved her life.

"In the years preceding my time at Henderson, my life was characterised by several overdoses, repeated self harm and frequent hospitalisation," she said.

"The sums speak for themselves: in one year prior to Henderson I was using acute services that cost approximately £150,000 per year.

"In the two years since I left, nothing. So the cost of my treatment paid for itself in less than one year and I continue to save my PCT a colossal amount of money," she said.

"Thanks to the Henderson, I know who I am and feel profound to love and embrace each day with an ever-growing sense of independence rather than desperation."

Sutton and Cheam MP Paul Burstow is now seeking a meeting with Health Ministers and NHS London officials to discuss the situation.

He added: "Ministers cannot hide behind local decision-making, the guidance on specialist commissioning is meant to safeguard services like the Henderson.

"It is time Ministers acted to protect this Cinderella service."

In a statement, the trust's chief executive Peter Houghton said they were disappointed but could no longer afford to subsidise the hospital at the expense of other services.