A DISTRICT MP has hit out at an attempt to stop private organisations providing NHS care.

Philip Davies, whose Shipley constituency includes Menston and Burley-in-Wharfedale, said residents are currently able to access "excellent" care on their doorstep.

He said that since the NHS had been opened-up to private provision, patients could be seen at the Yorkshire Clinic in Cottingley, as well as at Airedale Hospital and Bradford Royal Infirmary.

But he says a ten-minute rule Bill introduced by Labour MP Margaret Greenwood would stop the privatisation of the health service.

"My constituents can now go to the Yorkshire Clinic to have very high-quality treatment – it serves them much closer to their homes and is still free at the point of need," said Mr Davies.

He added that the Bill would also repeal part of the Immigration Act, scrapping a clause that people coming to the UK for more than six months from outside the European economic area should pay a health surcharge.

Mr Davies said: "Although there are no statistics yet on the revenue from this surcharge, a Parliamentary question last year said the Government estimated it would make about £200 million a year from it through foreign nationals using the NHS."