Shropshire A&E shake-up 'not a fight between Shrewsbury and Telford'

The leader of Shropshire Defend Our NHS was speaking about the programme to reorganise the county's health services.

Doctors have already said there will only be one emergency centre in the county in future and a shortlist of options released by Future Fit shows that it will either be at Telford's Princess Royal, the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital or a new site between the towns.

Future Fit chiefs said the review was not about a battle between the two towns and was about much more than just A&E services, with no decisions yet made by the team of clinicians and healthcare professionals.

Gill George, chairman of Shropshire Defend Our NHS, said: "This is something we are extremely concerned about and as a campaign we absolutely and wholeheartedly reject it.

"We had 33 people at one of our meetings at the weekend and that included people from Telford and from Shropshire and one of our principals is we will not play that horribly divisive game of Shrewsbury versus Telford.

"We need two hospital A&Es and two district general hospitals. We need high quality healthcare for everyone – it is not about let's keep our hospital open and close theirs.

"I have been tremendously disappointed. I do not think any of the Shropshire MPs or councillors have taken that principled stance of saying we do not just need our hospital but we need good healthcare services for us and our neighbours.

"We are holding on to the hope it will remain two A&Es in the county."

"We are very well aware that there is a lot of hard work ahead of us. We will be saying to the politicians wake up and start representing people."

Future Fit spokesman Richard Caddy said: "NHS Future Fit is not about Shrewsbury versus Telford and about far more than emergency care.

"It's about providing the best care for patients and the best possibility for attracting NHS staff to deliver that care into the future.

"NHS Future Fit is supported and led by doctors and other clinicians who work serving patients across Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin.

"They are guided by their experiences of working day-in-day-out trying to deliver the best healthcare they can."

Meanwhile, more than 5,000 people have signed a petition launched by Telford's MP David Wright urging health bosses to keep A&E services in the town.

He said: "In my view Telford is the largest town in the county it is also growing and it is clear that that service should be at the Princess Royal Hospital.

"The response to the petition has been incredibly positive and I think people see this as the number one issue in Telford at the moment. I think the petition is growing it is a huge issue."

Mr Caddy added: "NHS Future Fit was initiated following an extensive consultation exercise which clearly demonstrated local people believed there was a need for reform. Every stage has involved public engagement and no final decisions will be taken without a full formal consultation."