Jeremy Corbyn: Shropshire needs two A&E sites

Speaking exclusively during a visit to the Shropshire Star the Labour leader said that if he wins the general election he would look to increase staffing in the NHS, relieving pressure on the county's struggling hospitals.

Mr Corbyn also pledged to scrap controversial Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STP). STPs are government-led proposals to re-shape healthcare services across the country, although critics have described them as a covert method of cutting funding from the NHS. The Labour leader said he was well aware of the issues facing Shropshire's hospitals and even remembered the original campaign for a Telford hospital.

He said: "From my point of view having two A&E departments is important for the distances involved.

"In the debate in Parliament Daniel Kawczynski and Lucy Allan agreed about this and admitted that the problem is with staff so it seems to me that NHS England is hiding behind something here. I want to see staff levels increase so people in Shrewsbury and Telford are able to be safe."

Uncertainty remains over the future of the county's hospitals with the Future Fit review currently stalled while it is independently reviewed.

The delay came after a preferred option, of creating one emergency centre at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, ran into deadlock with the county's clinical commissioning groups.

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Telford & Wrekin Council has also threatened legal action over any move to downgrade the A&E at Princess Royal Hospital Telford or transfer women & children's services to Shrewsbury, with more than 1,000 residents taking part in a march over the issue earlier this month.

Mr Corbyn said that if he wins the election his government would want a fresh look at the problems facing the NHS.

He said: "I followed the debate very carefully and indeed I remember the campaign to get a hospital built in Telford. Telford new town was built without a hospital originally, it only had small hospital or cottage hospitals in the surrounding area. A lot of money has gone into it and only three years ago there was a big upgrade. I have followed that debate and what we will do is cancel the STPs and look again at the whole issue."