A Norfolk MP has criticised levels of NHS funding in the eastern region following the publication of the National Audit Office report on the 2006-07 accounts of the NHS in England.

A Norfolk MP has criticised levels of NHS funding in the eastern region following the publication of the National Audit Office report on the 2006-07 accounts of the NHS in England.

South Norfolk MP Richard Bacon, a member of the Commons public accounts committee, said: “It is shocking that the NHS in East Anglia has recorded a deficit over three and a half times larger than the only other area of the country in the red.”

Mr Bacon was speaking as the NAO published its report on the 2006-07 NHS accounts today .

He said Strategic Health Authorities are responsible for performance management of the NHS within their geographical area but only two of the 10 SHA areas in England reported a deficit in 2006-07 - East of England and South East Coast - down from seven in 2005.

Mr Bacon added: “This is a stark illustration of the chronic under-funding of health services in the East compared with what is needed. When doctors at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital are forced to treat patients in the car park because there is not a single bed available in the whole hospital, one cannot blame local NHS managers.

“It is quite obvious that local resources are being pushed well beyond what is tolerable. The responsibility for this rests squarely with central government.”

The report finds that the East of England Strategic Health Authority area recorded a deficit of £153 million, over three and a half times larger than the South East Coast Strategic Health Authority area's deficit of £42.7 million.