The effects of the proposed Capped Expenditure Process could be “devastating”, says the BMA, warning maternity and A&E wards would be closed and waiting times increased.
Experts say the plans, which would impose up to £250million of savings across the 14 health authorities which have the biggest deficits, could sound the “death knell” for the NHS.
The recent proposals, which have been discussed with NHS managers across the country, have not been put out for consultation with public or patients, a decision which has angered health care leaders, MPs and clinicians.
In some areas there are already reports that doctors will be forced to cut cataract operations and potentially lifesaving heart procedures, sources say.
BMA leaders say health authority managers have been told by NHS officials to “think the unthinkable” and make drastic cuts which it says are “unprecedented”.
The plans are intended to bring the highest overspending trusts into line with those which live within their means.
Although no final decisions have been made about how savings will be implemented under the process, experts at the BMA have collated information from health managers across the country who have been in talks with NHS officials.
The BMA now believes the level of cuts could lead to a dramatic reduction in services.
In its new report it predicts cuts could lead to closure of A&E and maternity units, reductions in hospital referrals, limits on non-urgent treatments such as knee replacements, IVF treatments and medical staff cuts and restrictions on drug prescribing.
Richard Vautrey, chairman of the British Medical Association GPs Committee said: “The scale of these cuts is unprecedented for the NHS and could lead to a fragmented service where patients will be denied treatment.”
A spokeswoman for the National Health Action Party, which campaigns for the NHS, said: “This is cutting to the bone and once you start eroding the fundamental principal of the NHS – covering reasonable needs from cradle to grave – it is sounding the death knell for the service.”
Dr Matt Mayer, spokesman for the pressure group GP Survival, is worried about the strain cuts would put on the GP service.
“Patients will be denied operations and treatments they have been able to get for the last decade. It’s absolutely terrible,” he said.
The 14 health regions include Bristol, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, North Central London, North West London, South East London, Surrey and Sussex and Staffordshire.
A spokeswoman for NHS England said: “The NHS has always had to live within the budget Parliament allocates and it is grossly unfair if a small number of areas in effect take more than their fair share at the expense of other people’s hospital services, GP care and mental health clinics.”
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