Jeremy Lefroy is urging the Secretary of State to reconsider the plans to scrap 230 acute beds in the new University Hospital of North Staffordshire.

"The publication of the report into the Mid Staffordshire Hospitals Trust underlines why we cannot afford to lose these beds.

"I have repeatedly pointed out that this reduction is completely unjustified when the population and age profile are both rising.

"Scrapping these beds in the new PFI-funded hospital will increase pressure on the UHNS, Stafford, Leighton in Crewe and possibly elsewhere.

"The government's plans were based on outdated population predicitions from the 2000 census, which have now been updated. However the plans have not been changed.

"This cut was, I believe, mainly about money with (the now inaccurate) population predictions used as an smokescreen."