Hewitt under fire as her local hospital escapes harsh NHS cuts

The University Hospital of Leicester, which serves the Health Secretary's constituency, has instead seen a £137million boost in controversial Private Finance Initiative funding, the Daily Mail has learned.

It is one of only two hospital trusts to see a significant increase in PFI cash since cutbacks were ordered last year.

The other, Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield, Yorkshire, serves the constituency of Treasury Minister Ed Balls, a close ally of Gordon Brown.

In January 2006, the Department of Health ordered a cut in the value of PFI hospitals of between 25 and 40 per cent amid concern about the spiralling long-term costs of such projects.

PFI involves an agreement between the Government and the private company.

The firm agrees to build, run and maintain a project or service - a school, hospital or prison, for example - in exchange for payment over the life of the contract.

Economists have warned if PFI commitments were included in the national debt, Britain's finances would be plunged billions deeper into the red.

Overall, the Health Department last year said it was cutting the value of PFI projects from £12billion to between £7billion and £9billion.

Of 13 PFI hospital schemes given the green light since then, eight have seen their capital values cut, according to research by Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley.

South Devon Healthcare NHS Trust, for instance, has seen its total slashed from an original £341million to £163million.

The capital value of a PFI project at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust has been reduced from £428million to £225million.

And Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust has seen a 23 per cent fall, from £186million to £143million.

Overall, the eight trusts have seen their new hospitals slashed in value by £800million, the research shows. One trust's funding has remained constant, one has seen a small three per cent increase, and figures are not available for another.

The only two to see a significant rise are University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, which will enjoy a 24 per cent increase in the capital value of its project from £574million to £711million, and Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, with a 29 per cent rise from £266million to £343million.

Respectively, they serve Miss Hewitt and Mr Balls' constituencies.

The Health Department has confirmed Mr Balls met the then health minister Jane Kennedy to discuss Pinderfields Hospital two months after it ordered PFI schemes to be cut.

He hailed the decision to clear the project last month.

"Now our exciting plans for a brand new state-of-the-art hospital at Pinderfields can go ahead and will soon be a reality," he said. Mr Lansley said: "Ministers are cutting back hospitals across the board - unless, that is, their own constituencies are concerned.

"Then, they're on the picket lines or in secret meetings, trying to get bigger hospitals or maintain services.

"It is yet another case of 'do as I say, not as I do' for Labour.'

At least 13 senior ministers have been condemned as hypocrites for fighting Health Service cuts in their constituencies.

Labour Party chairman Hazel Blears - who is supposed to enforce discipline in the ranks - has joined a picket line at her local maternity unit, which is facing closure as a result of Government policy.

Home Secretary John Reid and Chief Whip Jacqui Smith took part in demonstrations defending A&E wards and a maternity unit respectively.

Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell and Solicitor General Harriet Harman backed a campaign to save a mental health clinic, while Communities Minister Phil Woolas has condemned plans by a health trust to axe 800 jobs.

Last night a spokesman for the Health Department denied any political interference in the decisions on PFI funding.

"It's a nonsense to suggest these decisions are political," she said.

"It's up to local health communities to decide what is and what isn't affordable. If it's not affordable, we can't blindly press on with a project in a particular area.

"There is a clearance mechanism that comes through ministers, but we don't say 'cut this back a bit' or 'increase that a bit". We deny absolutely any interference."