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NHS bosses have been trying to gag staff during the election campaign, it has been claimed.

Health service workers are being told they must not take part in “debates, activities and events that may be politically controversial”.

Critics claim it is an attempt to cover up the crisis hitting the NHS.

However, NHS chiefs have hit back saying claims of a gag were "untrue" and impartiality rules "have always applied to all public bodies at election time."

The NHS is set to be a major battleground during the election campaign, with both Tories and Labour vowing to spend billions to improve care.

(Image: WPA Pool)

Heath unions claim the service has been close to breaking point ever since brutal Tory cuts in 2010.

The GMB union say banning them from speaking out over spending cuts amounts to gagging free speech.

National Officer Rachel Harrison said: “For nearly a decade, our members have witnessed first-hand sustained damage to the NHS at the hands of a Conservative government - while they’ve suffered a decade of real terms pay cuts.

“Our health service is at breaking point thanks to years of Tory mistreatment. And it’s at risk of being sold out further as Boris Johnson prepares to offer it up on a plate to Donald Trump and fails to rule out further privatisation.

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“Now they are being told they can’t talk about it in case it’s politically sensitive. Our members are being gagged from revealing to the public the real threat posed by the Tories to our NHS.

“The voices of our dedicated public service workers must be allowed to be heard.”

But NHS bosses are saying the health service is subject to the same restrictions on political activity as the civil service - a period known as “purdah” - ahead of polling day. But unions say the NHS move is unprecedented.

Online messages have been sent to workers by ambulance and NHS trusts ahead of the December 12 election telling them there should be “no participation by NHS representatives in debates and events that may be politically controversial, whether at national or local level.”

(Image: Getty Images)

Bosses at East Midlands ambulance service have warned staff to be “careful” about posting social media comments or photographs about the NHS.

An online circular says: “NHS employees are free to undertake political activism in a personal capacity but should not involve their organisation or create the impression of their organisation’s involvement.

“Please be careful with your personal social media accounts if you include where you work and/or photographs of you in uniform/ with an EMAS vehicle in your profile.”

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A message from North West ambulance service reads: “Staff are reminded that in the run up to an election there are rules that all public sector organisations have to follow in order to avoid detracting from influencing election campaigns.”

These include “no participation by NHS representatives in debates, activities and events that may be politically controversial, whether at national or local level.”

In Scotland, ambulance staff have received similar warnings, with a message saying: “If you mention that you work for the Scottish ambulance service on your personal social media channels, you cannot get involved in any online activity, debate or discussion which is political in nature.”

The row erupted as the NHS continued to dominate the domestic policy debate during the campaign.

A key Tory pledge has been to create six extra hospitals, with a £2.7billion investment over five years.

Labour claims the NHS is reeling from the tightest funding squeeze in modern history, which it says has left nearly four and a half million people waiting for treatment and seen thousands of cancelled operations last year.

An NHS spokesman said: “This story is untrue, because the rules on NHS political impartiality are unchanged, and have always applied to all public bodies at election time.

“The NHS belongs to everyone in this country regardless of their politics.”