St George's Hospital will not be losing its A&E and maternity units despite the recommendations of an NHS report.

The Better Services Better Value review suggested one A&E unit at Croydon University Hospital, Sutton's St Helier, Kingston Hospital or St George's Hospital be shut.

The NHS South West London review also recommended keeping just three maternity units at these hospitals, though clinicians were initially not ruling out the possibility of a stand-alone midwife-led unit.

The hospital which lost its A&E unit would also be likely to lose its maternity unit because the report recommended hospitals should have both units or neither.

And this week Dr David Finch, local GP and joint medical director for the review, said: "It has been agreed that St George’s Hospital, as a major acute hospital which includes a hyper acute stroke unit and major trauma centre following a previous public consultation, will retain its A&E and maternity services.

"A doctor performing a certain operation five times a week is going to be more prepared than a doctor who performs it just five times a year.

"By centralising maternity services we can help ensure every mother has one to one midwife care and a senior doctor on hand in case of emergencies.

"By centralising highly trained and specialist doctors and nurses we can treat more patients in bigger units and separate planned care from emergencies, making sure safety and quality is the best it can be for everyone."

The news will come as welcome relief for patients living near the hospital but will also cause concern as St George's could face even more overcrowing.

Tooting MP Sadiq Khan said: "It is clear that the Government has broken its promise to protect frontline NHS services.

"Even if NHS services in Tooting are not closed as part of this process, the impact will still be felt as more patients are directed to Tooting.

"St George’s is already one of the busiest A&E’s in London - this will place additional pressure on vital services at the worst possible time.

"Previous cuts to maternity services already mean St George’s Hospital having to cap the number of women it is able to support throughout the course of their pregnancy, and it has been forced to stop important services such as providing tours of the birthing suites to expectant mothers."

John Lister, from London Health Emergency, believes that while St George's is likely to survive but said: "Unless there is big money available for St George's to spend expanding the hospital, they will seriously undermine the quality of the services they already provide."

The A&E unit at St George's already treats more than 147,000 patients annually, far more than any while its maternity services deliver about 5,200 babies each year - a figure which is capped.

Maternity figures 2010/11 (Babies delivered):

St Helier 3,071
St George's 5,207
Croydon 4,268
Kingston 5,512

A&E – overall patients treated

St Helier 81,855
St George's 147,352
Croydon 106,797
Kingston 82674

No. of A&E emergency consultants and then recommended amount

St Helier 4.5 - 12
St George's 21 - 16
Croydon 4.9 - 16
Kingston 10 - 16