Southport MP Damien Moore has praised the government for investing more than £1,000,000 to help Southport Hospital over the winter.
The extra funding was announced as part of a £337m immediate funding boost for NHS hospitals this winter - in addition to an extra £2.8bn investment over the next two years.
The Tory MP said the payment showed that the hospital was being well looked after and said investment in health care could help towards securing the right numbers of doctors and nurses, increasing bed availability, and ‘making sure there is strong social care and community care support available to help discharge patients from hospital quickly’.
His comments came on the back of criticism from Labour after the hospital reached full capacity and more than 100 ambulances fwere left waiting outside the hospital for more than 30 minutes around Christmas and New Year.
Mr Moore said: “This is great news for Southport patients and residents.
"We all want to know the NHS is there for us and our families whenever we need it, so I’m pleased the Government has given the NHS in Southport extra support at this critical time of year, when cold weather and flu can increase the pressures on hard-working hospital staff.”
“There will, of course, have been greater pressures at this demanding time of year, however I am confident our services and front line staff performed professionally to ensure those who required medical treatment were seen to efficiently.
“I would remind the Southport Labour Party that under the Conservatives the NHS is receiving more money than ever before, and remind the public that it was the Labour Party, who when in power, attempted to carve up Southport Hospital by moving its key services, such as the Children’s Centre, to long-standing Labour constituencies like West Lancashire.
“Whilst my colleagues and I are supporting our local NHS by seeing services return, the Labour Party continue to undermine its improvements and success; It is time they stopped scaremongering residents by working against the hospital, distorting its image based solely upon Christmas Day statistics, and got on board with its continued recrudescence.”
“Southport hospital is heading in the right direction, and residents should be confident that if and when they need to use the A&E, they will receive first-class treatment.”
