CONSERVATIVE MPs are hailing a funding boost for Cheshire's hospitals – but the member for Weaver Vale insists it is 'hollow' with NHS resources stretched.

The Government has allocated £1.6 million to Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Victoria Infirmary, Leighton Hospital and Elmhurst, for the winter months.

Meanwhile, East Cheshire NHS Trust, which runs hospitals in Macclesfield, Knutsford and Congleton, will receive £1 million, and The Countess of Chester will receive £1.7 million.

Esther McVey, Conservative MP for Tatton, said: "This extra money is great news for patients and medics.

"We all want to know the NHS is there for us and our families whenever we need it, so I’m pleased the Government is giving the NHS extra support at this critical time of year, when cold weather and flu can increase the pressures on hard-working hospital staff.

"It’s thanks to our strong economy that we can make this extra investment in the NHS. Polls show the NHS is the institution that makes us most proud to be British and my party will always back and fund it."

Antoinette Sandbach, Tory MP for Eddisbury, has also hailed the funds for supporting 'our dedicated and hardworking doctors, nurses and NHS staff', but Mike Amesbury, Labour MP for Weaver Vale, believes the money will not go far enough to ease the pressure on hospitals.

"Despite claims in the last budget that the Government was putting the NHS on a sustainable footing, the reality on the ground exposes these hollow words," he told the Guardian.

"Tens of thousands of planned operations are being cancelled for hip, knee and cataract procedures, A&Es are struggling with demand and bed capacity is at 100 per cent level in too many hospital trusts."