YORK NHS cash is proving a local election battleground as candidates pledge to fight for fair funding for the city.

York Outer’s Conservative Julian Sturdy, campaigning to retain his place as MP, has promised to keep pushing for a change in NHS funding allocations which he says leave areas like York at a disadvantage.

Mr Sturdy said: “I believe this is an extremely serious matter as it impacts on everybody’s care in the region, and I have always felt we have been unfairly penalised.”

The current formula is weighted towards deprivation at the expense of age and rurality, leading to some areas being “awash with money”, he added, while others like York and North Yorkshire have to take difficult decisions over healthcare provisions, such as with IVF and pain relief injections.

The number of people over 85 in North Yorkshire, which is the highest proportion in the north of England, makes health funding in the county even more stretched, he said.

“I have raised this matter many times with ministers and hosted several debates in Parliament on the issue which gained cross party support.

"Despite some successes, with one cycle of IVF now being offered on the NHS here in York, our area remains extremely disadvantaged by the current formula.

"This means that local people aren’t getting the same access to treatments as some of our neighbours in more metropolitan areas like Leeds and Hull.”

Ukip candidate Paul Abbott said he sees daily the unfairness of a “postcode lottery” in health provision, and said his party would want to see the funding formulae redrawn and “health tourism” reduced to save NHS money, while investing a further £12 million in health by 2020.

But Green candidate Ginnie Shaw has questioned Mr Sturdy’s reasoning, saying that it is hard to see which areas of the NHS are “awash with money” as he suggests.

“His quote seems to me to be a gross distortion of a very complex picture,” she added.

“There are pockets of deprivation in all communities and factors such as ethnicity, gender and age all have an effect on health inequalities.

“What is needed above all else is joined-up working between health and social care and to put the patient at the centre of health care.”

The Liberal Democrat candidate James Blanchard agreed that the situation is too complex to be reduced to boundaries on a map.

He added: “While North Yorkshire has a high number of over-85s, lower life expectancies for people in poorer communities mean that many of the people who need the most help in York Outer simply don’t have the chance to reach the age of 85.

"Our NHS needs investment across the board to make sure that it can look after more people whatever their age. The Liberal Democrats’ spending plans would put the £8bn that it needs into our health service. We would also make mental health a top priority with £500m more spending.”