The enforced closure of a ward at Tolworth Hospital with the loss of 14 beds could leave Kingston Hospital burdened with more patients and longer accident and emergency waits.

Kingston Primary Care Trust (KPCT) is to close the ward in October. The move follows a decision by neighbouring East Elmbridge and Mid Surrey Primary Care Trust (EEMS) to terminate a contract where its patients were sent to Tolworth for rehabilitation and therapy after treatment in Kingston Hospital.

The contract was worth more than £1million to Kingston PCT and it will now have to make savings to make up for the lost revenue.

The closure of the ward itself will make up some of the deficit, though some staff may be made redundant or relocated to other jobs.

And, according to PCT, there could be many further knock-on effects of the closure: Kingston PCT will have to cut funding to Kingston Hospital which it paid to provide doctors for Tolworth's Chestnut Ward; the Elmbridge patients may now remain at Kingston Hospital when previously they would have been transferred to Tolworth, which could lead to longer A&E waits; the reduction of staff at Tolworth may mean longer stays for patients already there; and there will be less capacity at Tolworth to deal with seasonal influxes of mainly elderly patients affected by cold weather.

Chestnut ward is used for rehabilitating mainly elderly patients and treating stroke patients who come from Elmbridge.

Director of finance and information Pamela Farrow said Kingston PCT would be tightening its purse strings.

She said: "We are looking carefully at the services we don't need to provide as a result of the EEMS decision.

"The difficulty is a short-term one and we will have to exercise careful budgetary control for the time being."

She told the Comet half of the £1million revenue will be saved by the ward closure itself, and said vacancies in other areas within the PCT should mean there are no redundancies.

The building is rented by the PCT from a separate NHS trust and Mrs Farrow said this arrangement could not be immediately ceased and rent will continue to be paid in the short term.

A spokeswoman for Kingston Hospital said: "We understand East Elmbridge and Mid Surrey PCT will be making provisions to accommodate their patients requiring discharge from Kingston Hospital in their own community beds.

"We will be monitoring the situation closely to ensure these new arrangements do not result in unnecessary delayed discharges."

A spokesman for EEMS said the decision was taken because Tolworth Hospital is far from where many of its patients live and the trust is hoping to provide rehabilitation services within Elmbridge in future.

djudge@london.newsquest.co.uk