FORMER Health Secretary Frank Dobson defended Labour's NHS funding as he visited York District Hospital today.

Mr Dobson, who stood down as Health Secretary to run his failed bid to be London Mayor, returned to his home city to see how money he approved has been used at York District Hospital.

The senior Labour politician, who was brought up in Dunnington and still owns a house in the village, was joined by the party's York candidate Hugh Bayley to see the endoscopy unit which was built this year.

His visit came only three days after a nurse broke down at a national conference as she told fellow delegates how her terminally ill father died a slow death without proper nursing care in York.

Evelyn Nicholls, a nurse of 30 years' experience, told the conference of the Royal College of Nurses she had had to watch her 77-year-old father suffer with bowel cancer in care homes, hospital and hospice.

She blamed a lack of NHS funding.

Mr Dobson said today he couldn't comment on her case, but added: "York hasn't exactly been starved of funding for health services.

"York has also had a new accident and emergency department, a new kidney dialysis unit, a one-stop breast cancer care unit, a heart unit and an NHS walk-in centre since Labour was elected."

The endoscopy unit which opened in January provides improved facilities for the diagnosis and treatment of gastric and bowel cancer, along with other diseases.

As Health Secretary, Mr Dobson had cleared £1.1 million of Government cash for the unit. Hugh Bayley, York's Labour Parliamentary candidate, said: "York's waiting list is down by 500 since the last election and 2,130 more people were treated last year than in 1997/98. We're planning a £16 million modernisation at York District Hospital if we win."

But at last night's election hustings in York, Tory candidate Michael McIntyre claimed: "York District Hospital is dirty and filthy with conditions almost like the Third World". And he said that the first thing to do to improve the situation was to get rid of the Labour government.

The city's seven election candidates went head to head for the first time at the hustings in the Priory Street Centre. The Dean of York, the Very Rev Raymond Furnell, chaired the debate. Questions submitted by members of the public were aimed in turn at Conservative Michael McIntyre, Green Bill Shaw, Monster Raving Loony Eddie Vee, Labour member Hugh Bayley, Liberal Democrat Andrew Waller, Socialist Alliance candidate Frank Ormston and Richard Bate of the UK Independence Party.

Among the most heatedly debated question was: "What is the one most important thing to improve the health service?"

Mr Bayley stated his view as being to "tackle the causes of ill health, and back that up with support".

Mr Shaw said: "We are spending more and more on the health service because society is getting more and more diseased and ill, and we should be looking at prevention rather than cure."

Mr Waller said: "One of the things we have got to do is be more constructive. We need better funding of the NHS, and we want to include a 50p rate of tax on incomes of £100,000 to pay for it."

Other questions included what candidates' views on asylum were, how they intended to deal with climatic change and what their views on housing in York were.

Updated: 16:08 Friday, May 25, 2001