Health Secretary called into Shropshire A&E row

It comes as the fallout continues after a decision on the preferred option for key services – including the location of A&E – was put back by the Future Fit board last week. They said none of the options on the table adequately tackled the growing £23 million deficit of Shrewsbury & Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH). Daniel Kawczynski, MP for Shrewsbury and Atcham, is calling on those responsible for the review to reveal what efforts were made to address the deficit.

The MP also tweeted Jeremy Hunt, secretary of state for health, requesting a meeting about the issue. He wrote: "Writing to you about concerns with local CCG management of Future Fit process. Would appreciate meeting at earliest convenience."

Mr Kawczynski has also claimed that a decision had provisionally been made to base the county's A&E services at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital before the delay in naming a preferred option was announced.

In a letter to David Evans, senior responsible officer for Telford and Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Group and the man leading the Future Fit process, Mr Kawczynski asks for the minutes of last week's meeting where the decision about the future of Shropshire's hospital services was postponed.

The letter to Mr Evans, which has been copied to Mr Hunt, states: "Following our conversation I understand you chaired the Programme Board of NHS Future Fit meeting on October 1 when the decision was taken not to go ahead with a recommendation of where A&E services are to be placed despite the fact the RSH was the preferred option.

"This decision was added to the minutes by Mike Sharon (Future Fit programme director) under the instruction of members of the board. I would be grateful if you would send me a copy of the minutes of this meeting, also showing how members of the board voted."

The MP also asks for clarification on whether the board approached the Treasury for assistance in tackling the current SaTH deficit. He says: "The decision to retain A&E at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital would have made a saving of £3 million per annum which equates to 15 per cent of the overall annual deficit.

"I understand from our discussion the CCG did not approach the Treasury to request this capital investment and would be grateful if you could confirm this is correct. Could you let me know if any other appropriate national bodies were approached and if so when investment was refused."

Montgomeryshire MP Glyn Davies has also said he fears a "winter collapse" at Shropshire's hospitals as management struggles to cope with the deficit.

"It looks as if there has been a fundamental disagreement about the way forward," the MP said. "

My guess is that the can has catastrophically been kicked way down the road because the decision was too tough to take.

It's running a huge risk of a winter collapse."