Anger as region may lose £400m NHS cash

Leading Labour figures joined a rally in Leeds against a new allocation formula which would end weighting for deprivation and instead target resources on areas with more elderly people.

If the proposals go ahead, South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw would be worst hit in England with GP-led clinical commissioning groups losing £149m or 8.4 per cent of their NHS funding, followed by West Yorkshire which would face cuts of £211m, amounting to eight per cent.

Barnsley would see cuts of 13.5 per cent worth £41m, while North Kirklees would lose £25m at 13.3 per cent, and the south and east of Leeds would face cuts of £39m at 12.9 per cent. Overall the North faces cuts of £722m. The Midlands and Eastern England would be the biggest gainers.

Every area of Yorkshire would lose cash under the proposals although NHS England bosses have indicated they plan to introduce a new element for “unmet need”. Officials are yet to publish details of how this would affect allocations but a final decision will be made next month.

At the rally in Leeds city centre, Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls, MP for Morley and Outwood, said the cuts had triggered alarm among hospitals chiefs and GPs.

He said: “David Cameron said at the last General Election that he would cut the deficit, not the NHS. He’s not cutting the deficit and now he’s planning a 10 per cent cut in NHS funding.

“It’s not fair and it’s not right and we are going to fight it all the way.”

The Labour Leader of Leeds Council, Coun Keith Wakefield, accused Ministers of planning to move money from the North even though it had the highest levels of deprivation and poverty. “We need to protect the people of the North from this attack,” he said.