Shropshire MPs understand ambulance challenges, says health boss
Shropshire MPs are "supportive" and "aware" of the challenges faced by the region's ambulance service, according to a senior official.
Speaking at a meeting of West Midlands Ambulance Trust's board of directors, Mark Docherty, executive director of nursing and clinical commissioning, said that he had been involved in three meetings with Shropshire's newest MP, Liberal Democrat Helen Morgan, in recent weeks.
He said that the third meeting had involved all of the county's five MPs.
It comes as the service in Shropshire has been under considerable pressure, largely due to delays caused by handovers at the county's emergency hospitals.
Mrs Morgan, who was elected in the North Shropshire by-election last month, has pledged to make improving ambulance services a priority, and raised the matter in her maiden House of Commons speech earlier this week.
Speaking about the meetings Mr Docherty said: "She is very very keen to understand the ambulance sector and the challenges we face. In my experience of dealing with MPs she does get it, she understands the issues we are trying to address and I think she is very supportive of the challenges we face, and not just in Shropshire, but across our region."
He added: "I would say the same about all the Shropshire MPs. They are very complimentary about what we are doing and the challenges we face."
The most recent figures show that during December ambulances waited for a total of 1,862 hours outside county hospitals – 935 at Princess Royal Hospital in Telford, and 927 at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, both managed by Shrewsbury & Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH).
