AN MP has warned that a health trust could have to be broken up because of spiralling debts.

Dewsbury Tory MP Simon Reevell fears that the Mid-Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust has too much debt to survive.

Mr Reevell spoke to the Examiner after concerns were raised over the future of the accident and emergency unit at Dewsbury District Hospital.

The Wakefield-based Mid-Yorkshire Trust runs Dewsbury hospital, Pinderfields and Pontefract.

It was formed in a merger between Dewsbury and Wakefield in April 2002.

Mr Reevell said the trust had undergone an in-depth financial review by new interim chief executive Stephen Eames, who had found debts worse than expected.

Mr Reevell said the trust was considering all options to save money, of which closure of Dewsbury’s A&E was just one.

“No-one knows exactly how much the trust owes, said Mr Reevell. “It seems whenever they open another filing cabinet they find another debt.

“The question is how we find a solution, and it may be that the trust itself is no longer viable.”

Mr Reevell said Dewsbury hospital had been dragged down by Pinderfields’ historic debts and it may be time for Dewsbury to be hived off.

He said local health officials were looking at the possibility of Dewsbury joining with Huddersfield Royal Infirmary and Calderdale Royal Hospital, currently run by the Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust.

“Three weeks ago no-one was having this conversation,” said Mr Reevell.

“But now it is very much on the agenda. Dewsbury, Huddersfield and Halifax make a good geographical fit.”

Dewsbury East Labour Clr Paul Kane this week quit Kirklees Council’s Joint Health Scrutiny Committee to fight the A&E closure threat.

Mr Reevell described Clr Kane’s move as “hugely premature.”

Hospital bosses who look after Dewsbury District Hospital are examining plans for the future which could see some services moved as they have to cut costs.

The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust and local NHS commissioners, including GPs and representatives from the Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield Cluster Partnership, are leading discussions on the development of their new Clinical Services Strategy.

Senior figures met at the National Coal Mining Museum in West Yorkshire to discuss for how hospital services could be provided in future.

The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust published a range of options in the autumn of 2011 as part of its previous Clinical Services Strategy. Since then the extent of the challenge facing the organisation has become clearer and new, more radical options are now being developed.

The Mid-Yorkshire trust is holding a number of discussion meetings ahead of formal public consultation in January.