Patricia Hewitt has promised �17m in extra funding to the trust

Patricia Hewitt told the Commons Health Committee the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust (RCHT) hired an extra 250 staff last year despite a �31m deficit.

She said the RCHT are now in a difficult position where they are having to consult on redundancies.

The RCHT said many of the extra staff they hired were on temporary or fixed term contracts which have now ended.

'Reduce workforce'

"We increased staff in areas where we had a need to meet an increased demand for a particular service or for a specific project and to some extent grew quicker than we should have done," said the RCHT in a statement.

"This year we are being commissioned to carry out less work and have used stringent vacancy management controls to enable us to reduce our overall workforce by just over 240 posts."

In a visit to Treliske last week, Mrs Hewitt said St Michael's Hospital in Hayle will not face closure.

She also promised �17m in extra funding from the NHS in the South West to boost the RCHT.