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.”