CAMPAIGNERS last night insisted there was no evidence to show two Mersey hospitals had escaped a privatisation threat.

Community figures and union reps joined Knowsley MP George Howarth at a public meeting in Huyton about the issue at Whiston and St Helens Hospitals.

Knowsley Council leader Ron Round said confidence expressed by St Helens MP Shaun Woodward that privatisation would not happen was misplaced.

He told the meeting: “With respect to him, Shaun Woodward keeps telling us ‘don’t worry, it is not going to happen’, but we have no proof it is not going to happen.

“I will settle for nothing less than seeing it written in print by the secretary of state.”

The Daily Post revealed in April that an option had been mooted in a leaked government document to partly run the hospitals by a private company, to cover running costs. The £300m hospital is a new build, constructed with Private Finance Initiative (PFI) funds.

The Trust estimated it would need an extra £20.3m of funds from commissioners to run the larger hospital and to keep up with the PFI payments. During negotiations to build the hospital, it was agreed this money would come from central funds via the soon-to-be- axed Primary Care Trusts (PCTs).

But the document sets out three options to cover these costs – either they come from Government, the hospital merges with another Trust or it is handed over to a private company.