WATCH: David Cameron speaks about Help to Buy after sharing anger on Stafford hospital rumours

The Prime Minister told the Express & Star that people should ignore the calls of political rivals to stop referring to the poor care and deaths uncovered in two public inquiries as a 'scandal'.

He was visiting Cannock, where he said he would prefer to spend time rather than debating Labour's Ed Miliband, to see how people have benefited from the Help to Buy scheme.

He toured the Bellway housing development on the former Automotive Lighting Factory site off Walkmill Lane and met families.

Karen Howell, who is standing in Stafford for the pro-NHS National Health Action party, has accused the Tories of using the term 'scandal' to 'downgrade vital services and district general hospitals around the country'.

Meanwhile Labour's candidate Kate Godfrey has said the Tories have put Stafford's County Hospital on the 'road to closure', highlighting a KPMG report recommending the hospital's size should be reduced and it should become an 'elective rehabilitation centre'.

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The hospital's A&E department is closed at night while many patients now go to Wolverhampton's New Cross, Walsall Manor and Royal Stoke University Hospital instead. A major administration process ended in November and has seen a downgrade of Stafford's A&E, maternity, and children's departments. However there are plans to bring in a GP service overnight.

Mr Cameron, however, is adamant Stafford Hospital, now named County Hospital, will not close and criticised those who said it would.

He said: "I'm furious about that.

"What happened there was a scandal. You only have to read the report to see that things happened there that shouldn't have happened and people lost their lives who shouldn't have lost their lives.

"We know that and we should call things out as they are.

"I get cross because we have put £250 million into Stafford Hospital. The whole point is to save and enhance what is available.

"The integration with Stoke is proceeding and my understanding is recently the A&E figures at Stafford have got better.

"There's the option of the overnight primary care service beginning, funded by the Clinical Commissioning Group and so there's no way that Stafford is not going to have a good hospital. It is.

"Stafford Hospital will continue. As long as I am Prime Minister, as long as I am leading this government, Stafford Hospital has a bright future. What happened there was deeply distressing and disturbing but I know how much people want a strong district hospital. That is what they have. That is what they will keep.

"We have a review into the future of maternity services. We're using what happened at Stafford to test out the idea that we can have in Britain, what we have in other European countries, a maternity service that is consultant led without having to have vast numbers of births every year.

"You have with us a team that really cares about Stafford Hospital.

"Local people in Stafford should not have to suffer because of what happened there."