CALLS have been made for Hampshire hospitals to be spared any Government spending cuts as the full extent of the north-south divide in the NHS was laid bare in a new report.

It shows there are 2.54 beds for every 1,000 people in the south and 4.13 beds per 1,000 people in the north east.

There is a one hospital per 196,000 residents in the south in contrast to one for every 73,000 people in the north.

The report by the think tank Reform recommends other parts of the country are targeted for cuts.

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Hampshire MP and Liberal Democrat health spokesman Sandra Gidley, whose constituency covers Romsey and parts of Southampton, backed the report’s findings.

She said: “If money is going to be short there is more room for manoeuvre to make savings in the north compared to the south. Services in the south have already been cut to the bone.”

Reform’s report, Fewer Hospitals, More Competition, says the NHS has been right to halve the number of hospital beds since 1987 from 270,000 to 160,000 thanks to progress in battling infectious diseases.

However, Reform director Andrew Haldenby said: “The south of England, including Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, has felt hard done by because the bulk of hospital spending has been in the north of England and in London.

“There have got to be cutbacks but they should fall most heavily in the north and in London.”

The Department of Health said local health authorities were best placed to determine how many beds to retain against a background of “tighter” public spending.

A spokesman for South Central Strategic Health Authority, which covers Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, said: “The NHS South Central region has the lowest funding allocation per head of the population in the country, this is because we have a lower health need.

“However, this does not make it any less of a challenge to meet the financial demands we are planning for.”