Welsh population must be considered

Glyn Davies, Conservative MP for Montgomeryshire, has called for the UK Government to urgently make a decision over funding for the reform of secondary care NHS Services for Shropshire & Mid Wales.

During a Commons debate, Glyn Davies called for a decision to approve the funding for a new Emergency Care Centre at the Royal Shrewsbury to be taken as soon as possible, so that a public consultation on proposed reforms can proceed.

He also highlighted the urgent need for the population of Mid Wales be taken into account when population thresholds, on which specialist services are judged to be needed are assessed.

“There is no secondary health care in Powys which means that 80 per cent of patients in my constituency of Montgomeryshire travel over the border to Shropshire for their secondary care. Reform of NHS services in Shropshire is crucial for my constituents.

“There are two issues involved in making progress over the reform of NHS Services within Shropshire and Mid Wales. Firstly we desperately need an early decision about funding the development of a new Emergency Care centre at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital. For several years, there has been reluctance to tackle the difficult decisions involved in delivering the reform we need. We have prevaricated for far too long and desperately need a decision from the UK Government about the funding needed to be taken now.

“Secondly, It’s crucial that the population of Mid Wales is included in the catchment of Shropshire hospitals when judging appropriate thresholds on which the distribution of specialist services are based.

"For some services a population of 500,000 is considered appropriate. While Shropshire has a population of only 450,000 it rises to well over 500,000 when the true catchment including Mid Wales is taken into account.”