Funds allocated for cancer care may have been spent elsewhere in the NHS, the government admitted yesterday.

The Department of Health revealed that it was "possible" that NHS managers had used some of the extra £255 million pledged for cancer last year to repay debts and treat other diseases.

Liam Fox, the shadow health secretary, said this showed that the NHS had become a "black hole which swallows up investment".

It has also been revealed that the NHS spent £137 million on agency doctors last year as a result of a shortage of qualified NHS staff.