Boris Johnson has been accused of using the NHS for ‘pork barrel electioneering’, snubbing Liverpool and funnelling hospital funding into Tory target seats.
It comes after NHS chiefs in the city accused the government of being “disrespectful” over new hospital upgrades.
The government announced plans last week to immediately fund six new and refurbished hospitals and seed funding for 21 more trusts over the next ten years.
But Kathryn Thomson of Liverpool Women’s Foundation Trust told the Health Service Journal she had been left “hugely frustrated” when her organisation was excluded from the list of NHS buildings to benefit from a cash boost.
She said: “We were the top priority for Cheshire and Mersey, and we understand from NHS Improvement that we were one of the priorities for the north west of England, so we don’t understand why we haven’t got anything.
“We’ve asked a number of times for feedback on what prevented us getting something, so we could rationalise it, but we’ve never had anything back.”
Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth told the Mirror: “This is a damning assessment of the way in which ministers agree NHS spending announcement.
“Not only has Boris Johnson refused to guarantee the levels of funding need for a hospital rebuild programme from 2025, the list of hospitals invited to prepare plans are in marginal Tory constituency after marginal Tory constituency.
“It looks like old fashioned pork barrel electioneering.”
Of the 21 trusts receiving seed funding, more than half are in Tory seats, and nine are in seats with majorities of less than 5,000 votes in the 2017 election.
Ellesmere Port MP Justin Madders added: “Boris Johnson’s disrespect to the people of this area is well documented but these latest decisions show a total lack of respect for patients who use our local NHS as well as the many public servants who work so hard to run our hospitals.”
