Hospital 'must live within means'

Daniel Kawczynski wants no cuts to hospital jobs and services

Campaigners demanding more money for the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital have been told by the Prime Minister that the hospital must "live within its means".

Tony Blair was responding to a question from Conservative MP Daniel Kawczinski.

The member for Shrewsbury & Atcham had sought assurances that there would be no cuts to staff and services.

The finance director of Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust resigned when the trust slipped £19m into the red for the financial year 2004/05.

This added to the £10m debt predicted for the year 2005/06, leaving the trust facing a total deficit of £29m.

During Prime Minister's Questions, Mr Kawczinski recalled that Mr Blair had paid a number of visits to Shrewsbury, and knew the extent of the debt.

Mr Blair told the Commons: "He (Mr Kawzinski) will know that health care services in Shrewsbury and elsewhere have had a massive increase in their budget in the years to come.

"Since we are giving very, very generous provision for hospitals, I don't think it's unreasonable for us to say there's got to be proper financial accountability for that."