The government was criticised today for drawing up a hit list of 77 NHS trusts at risk of closure, cuts in services and significant debt.
The list, released today by the Department of Health (DoH), also highlights which trusts are likely to come under the most media scrutiny - prompting accusations from doctors' leaders and opposition MPs that NHS reform is being driven by political priorities rather than clinical need.
The so-called "heat maps" assessed whether individual NHS trusts would face national, regional or local media attention and when this coverage was most likely to occur. It also identified where NHS closures or cuts could affect Labour MPs.
The list was released by the DoH following a request by the Conservative party under the Freedom of Information Act.
Under the plans to reform the NHS, more patients would be treated in the community rather than at their local hospital, and specialist services would be taken away from local hospitals to create regional centres of excellence. The impact was expected to be greatest on acute and community hospitals.
The list showed that NHS trusts in London were most at risk, with eight of the 12 identified likely to attract national media attention.
The list also included 10 trusts from the east of England, and nine each in the north-west, south central and south-east coast.
The Conservatives shadow health secretary, Andrew Lansley, said: "What we do know is that these heat maps tell us ministers are not interested in the long-term interests of patients, but are obsessed with using the media to save their political skin. "These heat maps are all about the media attention devoted to potential hospital closures and downgrading. Staff are concerned about how they can treat their patients, while the Department of Health are more concerned about how the media treat the attention caused by hospital closures."
The Liberal Democrat health spokesman, Steve Webb, said: "The public already suspects that decisions about changes to the NHS are being driven by financial crisis not clinical need. What matters is the right arrangement of hospitals for patient care, not politicians' jobs.
"The publication of 'heat maps', showing that political factors are also weighing heavily in these decisions, will further undermine public confidence."
A spokeswoman for the British Medical Association (BMA) said: "We oppose all reconfiguration [of the NHS] based on anything other than clinical grounds.
"Politics and individual MP constituency areas should have no relevance in the reconfiguration debate. Decisions must be made on clinical grounds and not for political gain."
A DoH spokeswoman said: "Changes to local hospital services are often difficult. We fully understand that people feel very passionately about their NHS and change will only happen after full public consultation with local people and subject to independent scrutiny."
The full list of health trusts identified by strategic health authority region is:
East of England
Bury St Edmonds
Central Norfolk
East & north Hertfordshire
Ipswich
Kings Lynn
Suffolk east
Suffolk west
St Albans & Hertsmere
Waveney
West Hertfordshire
East Midlands
High Peak PCT
Lincolnshire PCTs
Nottingham University
United Lincolnshire
London
Barking, Havering & Redbridge
Barnet & Chase Farm
Epsom & St Helier
Hammersmith
Kingston PCT
North Central London
North Middlesex university
North West London
Queen Elizabeth hospital
Queen Mary
St George's
Whipps Cross
North-east
County Durham & Darlington
Northumbria Care Trust
North Tees & Hartlepool
South Tees
North-west
Cumbria PCT
Manchester & east Cheshire
Mid Cheshire
North Cheshire
North Cumbria
Pennine Royal
Liverpool Children's
Royal Liverpool university
Southport & Ormskirk
South central
Buckinghamshire
Heatherwood & Wexham Park
Newbury PCT
North Hants
Oxfordshire PCT
Oxford Radcliffe
Portsmouth Southampton university
Winchester & Eastleigh
South-east coast
All Surrey & Sussex
Brighton & Sussex university
Guildford & Waverley
North Surrey PCTs
Surrey & Sussex Healthcare
Royal West Sussex
South-west
Bristol
Gloucestershire PCTs
Mid Devon PCT
North Devon Healthcare
Royal Cornwall
Royal United
South Bristol PCT
West Wiltshire & Kennet/North Wiltshire PCTs
West Midlands
Royal Wolverhampton
Sandwell & West Birmingham
Shrewsbury & Telford
Shropshire PCTs
South Warwickshire
University Hospital of North Staffordshire
Warwickshire & Coventry
Worcestershire
Yorkshire and the Humber
Calderdale & Huddersfield
Hull & East Yorkshire
Leeds Teaching
Mid Yorkshire