Shropshire Star

Philip Dunne defends his stance on Shrewsbury A&E unit

Almost 700 people have written an open letter to Philip Dunne over his stance on hospital services.

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Philip Dunne

Members of campaign group Shropshire Defend Our NHS have said they were "shocked" to hear Mr Dunne, who is standing for re-election as Ludlow and South Shropshire MP, say he could not commit to opposing the possible closure of A&E services in Shrewsbury.

The group, along with members of Ludlow Campaign for Fairness and national group 38 degrees, has urged Mr Dunne to reconsider, as he is the only south Shropshire candidate not to overtly oppose any loss of A&E from Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.

But Mr Dunne today said he is waiting until he has seen the "full facts" about how NHS services are to be laid out across the county, which has not yet been decided and by the NHS's Future Fit review.

There are currently two A&E departments, one at Shrewsbury and one at Telford's Princess Royal Hospital. But the review proposes creating just one for the whole county at either Shrewsbury, Telford, or another location.

The 661-signature letter to Mr Dunne says: "We believe that we need both our A&E units – at the Royal Shrewsbury and the Princess Royal – for a population of 540,000 people across 2000 square miles, in Shropshire, Powys and Telford and Wrekin.

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We strongly urge you to reconsider, and to do all that you can to safeguard our A&E in Shrewsbury."

Mr Dunne responded: "I have been a strong advocate for quality healthcare for south Shropshire since first elected. I am campaigning for all our community hospitals, including Ludlow, being upgraded to Urgent Care Centres as part of the NHS Future Fit review in Shropshire.

"I have also been very clear that we need to secure quality, clinically safe A&E cover in Shropshire for all residents of south Shropshire.

"At present the alternative proposals led by NHS clinicians are being developed, with business cases prepared for each, prior to a full public consultation later this year.

"This is the time when politicians and the people of Shropshire will be able to give their views to secure the optimal design of emergency provision across Shropshire for coming decades.

"I will decide which, if any, of these alternatives to support, once the business cases are available and the clinical and other arguments are presented.

"I am not going to pre-empt the results of this work. I shall take a clear stand based on the full facts and what is best for all residents of the whole of south Shropshire, to ensure we maintain clinically safe A&E in the county," he said.

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