AN MP claims government officials displayed 'unforgivable incompetence' when they failed to pay millions in promised NHS funding to the area's hospital trust for 11 months.

Bosses at the trust in charge of Furness General Hospital, in Barrow, were left to pick up the tab for £600,000 in interest accrued after they used short-term loans and overdrafts to stay afloat while they waited for the money from the Department of Health.

They were supposed to receive £35m in local price modification tariff to cover the 2016/17 financial year - but the cash did not arrive from Whitehall until February.

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Now, freshly re-elected Barrow and Furness MP John Woodcock has pledged he will challenge health secretary Jeremy Hunt over the issue in parliament.

Mr Woodcock said: "At a time when our NHS is under massive financial pressure, this is unforgiveable incompetence from the government, costing the equivalent of 20 nurses."

He added: "As soon as parliament returns I will be challenging Jeremy Hunt to make it clear how this was allowed to happen and to explain whether he will now reconsider the massive cuts to our NHS that were so clearly rejected at the ballot box by voters in Furness last week."

Discussions between Aaron Cummins, finance boss at the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, and NHS England took place in March to establish which organisation was responsible for settling the interest bill.

But on Monday, the Evening Mail revealed UHMBT had been left to foot the bill from its already overstretched budget.

The trust was set to record an deficit of £17m last year despite identifying savings worth £13m.

It faces more spending cuts in the year ahead.

Mr Cummins said: "The LPM is an important part of our trust’s transition to financial sustainability in the long term, and recognises the significant additional costs that the trust incurs in delivering safe, effective services across such a large, sparsely populated area."

The sum will be recorded in the trust's annual accounts.

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