A REGIONAL MP has told Parliament that Basildon hospital is "bursting at the seams" and "cannot cope" with plans to build 27,000 new homes in the area.

Mark Francois, Tory MP for Rayleigh and Wickford, has been critical of Labour-led Basildon Council's local housing plan, which he blasted as "unsound" during discussions in the House of Commons last week.

He insists the hospital has been hit with "winter pressures and flu" and that "bed capacity has exceeded 100 per cent."

The council has been consulting the proposed local plan, which includes development over the next 20 years, with up to 4,313 homes in Basildon, up to 4,170 in Billericay, up to 4,220 homes in Wickford and up to 16,928 new homes on green belt sites across the borough.

Mr Francois said: "Mid and South Essex Hospitals Trust, which runs Basildon Hospital, reported that in the autumn, the hospital was running at between 98 and 99 per cent of its bed capacity. In recent weeks, because of winter pressures and flu, bed capacity has exceeded 100 per cent. The standard NHS ratio is 2.4 new patients for each house, so 27,000 new households are just under 65,000 new patients for Basildon Hospital, which is already bursting at the seams.

"Surely the new local plan is unsound on that score alone; Basildon Hospital just cannot cope with it. There is not one specific word in there about plans to expand Basildon. There is an associated infrastructure delivery plan, which is a living document; it is three years out of date, and there is no specific plan in there for Basildon." 

Mr Francois has previously written an eight-page letter to Kim Bromley-Derry, the interim chief executive of the council, outlining his objections to the plan, including because of a lack of supporting infrastructure.

A Basildon Council spokesman said: "We are grateful to all who took part in the Regulation 18 consultation on the draft local plan for Basildon.

"We received more than 9,000 comments and contributions. All of the responses will be fully reviewed and a statement of consultation will be provided for members to review at cabinet."