Paul Rowen, Liberal Democrat MP for Rochdale, and Michael Penning, Conservative MP for Hemel Hempstead, independently called for the Parliamentary Commissioner to investigate Ms Blears’s presence at a high-level meeting about the political impact of NHS changes.

Andrew Lansley, the Shadow Health Secretary, tabled 31 requests for information about the secret meeting from the Department of Health under the Freedom of Information Act.

He described the disclosures as “outrageous”, and said that the Government must reveal what role Labour officials had had in a discussion on planned NHS cuts.

The Times reported yesterday that a series of e-mails showed how Patricia Hewitt, the Health Secretary, had called a political meeting with two of her junior ministers, Ms Blears, two advisers from No 10 and a representative of the Labour Party to discuss a plan for NHS change.

Ms Hewitt called for “heat maps”, showing public opposition and the potential political implications, to be supplied to the meeting on July 3. A government spokesman confirmed that the meeting had taken place, but said that it was just normal political business. Rosie Winterton, the Health Minister, said that Ms Blears had no influence over any decisions.

But Mr Rowen, who held Rochdale at the last election with a majority of just 442, said that the meeting should be subject to an inquiry and that, if Ms Blears was found to be influencing decisions on NHS cuts, she should resign.

“Key decisions have been made that will seriously affect residents’ lives in areas like Rochdale,” he said. “I will be asking the Parliamentary Commissioner to investigate any secret meetings and to see whether there has been any political interference from the Labour Government.”

An Accident and Emergency unit in Mr Rowen’s constituency is being replaced by an “urgent care centre”, dealing with less serious casualties.

“I am seriously concerned that this process has been essentially hijacked by Labour Party bosses,” he said.

Mr Penning said that Hemel Hempstead Hospital in his marginal constituency was being closed, and services were being moved to Watford, a seat held by the Labour junior whip Claire Ward with a majority of 1,148.

“It’s bad enough my constituents’ medical care is being undermined by the move, but to now hear that the Labour Party are using my constituents’ lives as a political football is frankly appalling,” he said. “The commissioner must look into this now.”

Ms Winterton said that heat maps were a “simple planning mechanism”, and added that there was nothing sinister about them.

Mr Lansley asked in his FoI requests for details to be disclosed of the heat maps and all meetings held by ministers to discuss reconfiguration. Steve Webb, the Liberal Democrat health spokesman, said that British taxpayers would be outraged if cuts were being planned around the jobs of Labour MPs.

“The NHS is owned by all of us. It is not a plaything of the Labour Party,” he said.

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