News that the downgrading of the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford by transferring most acute services to Shrewsbury could become a reality today sparked a wave of protest.

The protests were led by Wrekin Conservative MP Mark Pritchard who has gathered more than 10,000 names on a petition to safeguard services at the PRH and is planning a public march against any cuts.

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The condemnation followed the publication of a report on the findings of an exhaustive study by top doctors and nurses of ways of reorganising hospital services to cope with intense pressures.

Members of NHS Telford & Wrekin, Shropshire County PCT and the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust will decide in the coming fortnight what changes to make.

They have been recommended to note that the best option all round is to transfer serious accident and emergency cases, acute and vascular surgery and in-patient paediatric services from the PRH to the RSH.

Mr Pritchard said: “After years of trying to discredit my Save the PRH campaign, the truth has now finally come out.

“I will not stand by and allow my constituents lives to be put at risk. This is literally a fight for life and I call upon the whole community to get behind my Save The PRH campaign.”

Telford Labour MP David Wright said: “I’m going to fight these proposals tooth and nail. I think local health bosses have got this wrong.

“I’m launching a Say No to Shrewsbury campaign and I would urge all residents to Telford to get involved. I come from Telford, it is my home town and we fought very hard to have a hospital in the town and we want not only to retain services but also to see them expanded.”

Shrewsbury Conservative MP Daniel Kawczynski said: “I am relieved that there are not cuts to services at the RSH, cuts which I would have fought vigorously. However, the Government has identified Shropshire as an area for development and a place in which more people should live.

“What worries me greatly is that the considerable strain which is currently on existing services will be exacerbated by the cuts in Telford.

“I am worried about an increase in traffic in Shrewsbury as a result of this move and increased pressure on medical staff at the hospital.

“I shall be looking very carefully at what additional financial resources will be provided by the Government to allow the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital to cope with the additional responsibilities resulting from this transfer of services.”

The Shropshire Star exclusively revealed the threat to acute services at the PRH on Tuesday when the newspaper carried details of a strongly-worded letter from Telford & Wrekin Council leader Councillor Andrew Eade to the Royal Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust chief executive Tom Taylor and Simon Connolly, chief executive of the Telford & Wrekin Primary Care Trust.

Councillor Eade said: “I am relieved that the full truth and implications of what the Hospital Trust was about to inflict on us is now in the open and available for everyone to understand.

“This alone has fully vindicated my decision to make the urgent public statement that alerted the community to the catastrophic proposals to rip essential services out of the PRH.

“However, I remain furious at the way this vital matter has been conducted. The presumption that vital and lifesaving services should be removed from the PRH without proper public consultation, and then supposedly on ‘safety grounds’ is unacceptable.”

Labour group leader on Telford & Wrekin Council Councillor Keith Austin said: “It is just not acceptable and clearly we will be taking measures to campaign to keep services at the PRH at their present level and get a commitment to increase services as the population increases.

“It is madness to think the RSH will cope with the volume of people coming over from Telford.

“It is 18 miles from where I live to the RSH by car and it will put a lot of pressure on families who don’t have transport.”

Alan Millward, chairman of the PRH’s League of Friends, said: “They were going to do this anyway.

“I can’t believe the cost figures they have quoted. It surely can’t be around £30 million more expensive to move services to Telford?

“I think they have got to explain exactly how they have reached these figures.”

Dr Roger Henderson, senior partner of the Linden Hall GP practice in Newport, said: “Whatever economic basis the decision has been made on, this will have a direct impact on patients in Telford and the surrounding areas.

“It is difficult to put a price on that.”

By Simon Hardy