A PARLIAMENTARY candidate has blamed what he calls ‘a growing financial crisis’ at Warrington Hospital on the Conservatives.

Nick Bent, Labour parliamentary candidate for Warrington South, has blamed David Cameron’s ‘broken promises on the NHS’ and ‘on the local Tory MP for voting for deeply damaging policies’ for the hospital's financial problems that have led to a investigation by health regulator Monitor.

He said that Warrington and Halton NHS Foundation Trust’s chief executive, Mel Pickup, was forced to write a letter to all staff last week about the challenges facing the hospital and claims that it reveals that the projected deficit for 2015/2016 is £15 million.

Mr Bent said: “Despite the heroic efforts of over-stretched NHS staff, our town’s hospital is in crisis as a direct result of David Cameron’s failed policies on the NHS, which the sitting Tory MP has voted for every single time.

“We need a change to a Labour Government to rescue the NHS.”

He also said the letter explains that the Trust has had to ‘declare itself in a turnaround position’ and that the hospital has brought in accountancy firm KPMG to help ‘identify how it may return to a sustainable position’.

Mel Pickup, chief executive at the trust, said: “We have been very open and honest about our financial position with our staff and the public after what has been a challenging year.

“We had a deficit of around £6m for the year which has just finished which is carried forward into this year.

“That’s why we have declared what we call a turnaround situation to address this and monitor our expenditure very carefully.

“Business at the hospitals continues very much as usual but we do face a challenge that we need to meet.

“We are continuing to provide the very best in care to our patients, recruiting to key posts and vacancies to reduce our temporary staffing costs and transforming the way some of our services work.

“This includes a clear plan that is reducing delays in A&E after the increased numbers of emergency patients that we have seen over the last year.

“We’ve also agreed with Monitor to bring in some external expertise to develop our longer term clinical services strategy to bring us back to a sustainable position.”

David Mowat, Conservative candidate for Warrington South, said: “Ed Miliband has given instructions to his candidates to “weaponise” the NHS and comments such as these, at this stage, should be taken in that context.

“I am proud that there are now more doctors, more nurses and more midwives in the  NHS. Nationally and in Warrington, than there were in 2010. The staff at Warrington Hospital do a superb job and we should be supporting them as they cope with ever-increasing demand.

“It’s a shame that Ed Miliband’s party has refused to support my campaign for a fairer funding formula for the NHS which would benefit towns like Warrington which have been historically underfunded.”

Helen Jones, Warrington North candidate for Labour, said: “This hospital’s deficit is a direct result of underfunding by this Government.

“And local staff are doing their best to keep the system going without the necessary resources.

“If I am re-elected, I shall be pressing for proper funding but the danger is if the Tories are returned to power they could try to force our hospital trust into a merger probably with Whiston.

“And that could mean Warrington people have to travel much further for their treatment.”