A former MP is hosting a second meeting in an effort to clarify the future of Cornwall’s NHS, after a public consultation in Penzance last week turned into chaos.

Andrew George, former Lib Dem MP for St Ives, believes that the government are pulling ‘the wool over the public’s eyes’ by refusing to state which services will be cut.

Funding for NHS services in the area are under threat after local MPs voted against a Commons Motion which called on the government to increase funding for the NHS and social care.

Now, Mr George is calling a meeting in Penzance on Wednesday, January 18, where health campaigners and managers behind the local Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) can set out their case.

Last week more than 250 people turned up to the meeting in Penzance, but the event got off to a bad start with members of the public heckling of "we can't hear you" within the first minutes.

Protesters gathered ourside the meeting, and one woman who introduced herself as a retired nurse, said the meeting was ignoring the fundamental problem.

"We have a crisis in the health service," she said.

The meeting was described as an "absolutely fudge and a fix", and now Mr George has organised another meeting to clarify the issues that went unaddressed at the first meeting.

Speakers at the meeting include Marna Blundy, from West Cornwall Healthwatch, Rick Evans, a former Vice Chair of the Royal Cornwall Hospital’s trust and Peter Levin, a local health campaigner.

Those who attend will have the opportunity to complete a ballot to show their support or opposition to the STP and whether they would support, if necessary, an increase in tax to find the need for more investment in the NHS.

Mr George said: “The Conservative Government wants to cut more than £260 million from Cornwall’s NHS, but they want locals to decide where the cuts fall.

“Local Tory MPs support this plan, this week they voted to reject a Commons motion proposing more money and fair funding for our NHS and for social care.

"The consultation' for the (STP) Plan asks if we ‘support prevention of ill-health’, ‘better integration’, improved efficiency and productivity’ and ‘better care’ etc, but doesn't quite go as far as seeking support for motherhood and apple pie.

“However, it masks what is really at stake, pulls the wool over the public's eyes and doesn't tell us which services will be cut to satisfy the Tory requirement to cut £260m+ from the budget.

"It's clear we'll have a full house in Penzance on Wednesday evening, especially after so many people were annoyed by the shambolic event put on last week."