Super hospital 'is best option' for Shropshire
One 'super hospital' is the only way forward to ensure Shropshire has the best accident and emergency care, county MP Owen Paterson insisted today.
The former minister said it was inevitable the current arrangement of separate hospital A&E units in Telford and Shrewsbury would have to be changed.
That means the creation of a large hospital that would serve the whole population of the county.
The former environment secretary is the latest influential leader in Shropshire to call for change in order for NHS services to cope with rising demand. He spoke as hospitals and ambulance services face unprecedented demand.
Mr Paterson, the North Shropshire MP, said it was for the experts and the ongoing consultation to shape where that one hospital emergency unit should be.
He said any super hospital should be backed with urgent care centres across Shropshire to give the public access to treatment.
Options for the future include creating a single A&E site at Telford's Princess Royal Hospital or Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, or creating a new building on a separate site.
Mr Paterson said until the county has just one main hospital it will not be able to offer major health care or attract top consultants, adding: "At the moment seriously ill patients have to travel to Stoke for heart and stroke treatment. The sooner we have a new model of health care that gives the county one major hospital and urgent care centres – including one in Oswestry – the sooner those services may be offered in Shropshire."
Dr Caron Morton of Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group, said a single 'super A&E' and attached acute care centre would be built supported by minor injury units in centres and doctors' surgeries so the new hospital could focus on major trauma.
