A HAMPSHIRE MP has defended Government plans to protect frontline NHS services.

Gosport representative Caroline Dinenage, pictured, spoke in the House of Commons of her hope that the Government’s plans would help her own town.

She asked: “Does the Secretary of State share my hope that the Government’s joint commitment to increasing NHS spending and dealing with the legacy of PFI debt will help areas like Gosport which are living under the umbrella of a huge PFI hospital approved under the last Government which is sucking up most of the NHS budget?”

She was told that PFI debt is costing the NHS more than a billion pounds a year and that in some cases this money was poorly spent and that money would be spent on frontline care to help patients.