Telford 'united' in fight to keep A&E, says MP Lucy Allan

Lucy Allan said there was a "long battle ahead" to maintain the hospital service in Telford.

It comes after the MP met with the leader of Telford & Wrekin Council, Councillor Shaun Davies, to discuss their fears over the proposal.

She said the pair have now pledged to use all the weapons in their arsenal to make the case for an emergency service to be kept at the Princess Royal Hospital.

Ms Allan said: "Everyone is on the same side on this key issue for our town and its future.

"I am grateful to the council for its support of the work of the borough's MPs in Parliament.

"The council and borough MPs have different tools available; it is important that all of these are used to achieve the shared aim of keeping these services in Telford.

"I want to see the council work cross-party to make an evidence-based case to both the Clinical Commissioning Group and the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, setting out why Telford must keep its healthcare service that is so valued by constituents.

"I fully support the council in this important work at a local level.

"I will be working with my colleague Mark Pritchard, Wrekin MP, to make the case in Parliament and we will be meeting with the Secretary of State shortly.

"I will keep in close contact with the council to ensure they are kept informed.

"It is early days, but there is clearly a long battle ahead."

Councillor Davies said he has called on Ms Allan to arrange an urgent meeting with Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, to join him in writing a combined letter to Mr Hunt, to support the council's cross party motion that will be discussed next week at an emergency meeting and to support the council's PRH 4 Me campaign.

He said: "We had a very productive discussion about the threat to key services at the PRH.

"I have asked Lucy to help us on these very specific things - I look forward to working closely together in our fight for services at PRH.

"This is not and have never has been a Telford v Shrewsbury debate. We have from the beginning and still now support the need for two A&Es in both hospitals. We again urge the NHS to reconsider their position and plans."

Councillor Davies told a meeting of the hospital trust board, held at the Park Inn, Telford yesterday, that he would put the matter forward for judicial review, if the decision was made to close Telford's A&E department, as well as lobbying the Health Minister Jeremy Hunt.

It comes after proposals were put forward for Royal Shrewsbury Hospital to house Shropshire's only A&E.

The services provided by the £28 million Women and Children's Centre, which opened almost exactly two years ago at the Princess Royal, will also move to Shrewsbury, according to papers from a meeting last week.

Future Fit bosses have not denied the claims by Shropshire Defend Our NHS, and still plan to perform a 'financial appraisal' with previous indications showing the RSH option as the most expensive.

Councillor Davies has also called for a pause in the decision-making, saying the public and the council has "lost faith" in the Future Fit process, following the announcement.

Future Fit boss David Evans has previously made it clear that the "non-financial appraisal" review would be given greater weight in the final decision.

Ms Allan has previously described the decision to move services from the two-year-old Women and Children's Centre in Telford as a "complete betrayal of the borough and described the move as "incomprehensible".