A Lewisham councillor has warned against plans to merge the six south-east London CCGs as part of a major NHS reorganisation.

The proposed reform would see the Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG) of Lewisham, Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Lambeth and Southwark merged by April 2020 if approved by NHS England in September.

Each CCG responsible for the planning and commissioning of health care services for their local area.

Cllr John Muldoon said he didn’t support the merge and feared there would be a loss of local input, GP involvement and accountability.

The merged CCG would cover a population of around 1.9 million, he said.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea because one of the good things about CCGs is it had good local links,” he said.

“I think there are issues around local accountability.”

Speaking at a full council meeting, Cllr Muldoon said that in 2012 NHS England stated there would be no more reorganisations.

Councillors backed his motion which outlined the concerns with the proposals.

Cllr Muldoon feared the merge could result in a “democratic deficit”, and called for Lewisham Mayor Damien Egan to make a formal response to the consultation.

The motion also cites concerns about a lack of clarity as to where the power and decision making would lie in the new scheme.

Papers presented at the south-east London joint health overview and scrutiny committee on Monday (July 22) explain the merge would see less money spent on administration and more money for front line services.

It would see a south-east London governing body with members from each borough, as well as with sub committees and a board also at borough level.

The plans for south-east London form part of proposals to cut the total number of CCGs from 191 to just 44 by April 2021.

No formal public consultation is required for merger plans although CCGs are carrying out engagement exercises.