WYCOMBE Hospital could close because patients are choosing to go elsewhere, the health spokeswoman for Wycombe District Council's most senior committee has warned.

There is a "natural bleed" towards hospitals like Wexham Park, Ascot, Berkshire said Councillor Wendy Mallen, health spokeswoman for the council's cabinet.

This could put Wycombe Hospital - which by the end of the year will have lost serious trauma and birthing services - at risk, she said.

Councillors agreed they were "deeply concerned" about the future of the hospital.

"By a dripping we could lose our hospital I believe," said Cllr Mallen at last night's monthly cabinet meeting.

"If you ask the managers of the trust they say no, that is not their intention, they have no plans for this."

But she said she believed "market forces" could lead to the hospital shutting.

Government reforms introduced from 2003 means hospitals are mostly paid only for work they carry out rather than in bulk grants.

At the same time patients can choose to go to the hospital of their choice in their area - from April this will be any hospital in England approved by the NHS.

This means Wycombe Hospital could be hit by a lack of patients, Cllr Mallen This was most evident at its maternity unit, where consultant-led births will cease at the end of the year, she said, About 1,000 births need to take place each year she said to keep the unit open - but only 103 are booked in at the moment.

Hospital bosses are "very worried" about this, she said.

"They say it is not going to close but market forces do come in I think," Cllr Mallen said.

Other members said they were also pessimistic about the future of the hospital.

Cabinet member councillor Jean Teesdale said: "I think there are services we may lose that we have been told we won't."

And Councillor Tony Green, who is not on the cabinet, said the 2003 merger of South Buckinghamshire NHS Trust and Stoke Mandeville Hospital NHS Trust to form Buckinghamshire Hospitals NHS Trust should wear some of the blame.

He said: "We were the trust that had the money and the good results. They amalgamated us with Stoke who had a deficit and lousy results."

Cllr Green said: "We seem to be supporting it and allowing it to go through without raising any concerns."

He went on: "They are trying to turn Wycombe Hospital into a cottage hospital effectively and that cannot be to the benefit of the majority of the people in this district.

"We ought to fight this as a council and make whatever objections we can. It does worry me that those in the south of the county are going to get a second rate service."

The cabinet agreed to tell the council's overview and scrutiny committee for public health services watchdog that it was "deeply concerned" by the changes.