A WAR of words has broken out between two sparring MPs, over Basildon Hospital’s financial woes.
Last month, the Echo revealed the Trust was working with a deficit of £9million.
Mike Le-Surf, Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Tory Stephen Metcalfe’s South Basildon and East Thurrock seat, suggested the woes were due to the Goverment’s reorganisation of the NHS.
Mr Le-Surf said: “Patient care is going backwards as more people are forced to wait longer in A&E, cancelled operations are at their highest for a decade, and waits for vital cancer tests and treatments are increasing too.”
But Mr Metcalfe hit back, accusing Labour of scaremongering.
He said: “I appreciate that £4.66m is a substantial sum, but this must be understood within the context of the improving standards and planned investments designed to ensure patients are receiving the best possible treatment.”
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