Shrewsbury MP Daniel Kawczynski calls for politicians to unite over hospital plans
A county MP has called for politicians to "set aside differences" and back plans for the re-organistion of Shropshire's major hospitals.
Daniel Kawczynski, the Conservative MP for Shrewsbury & Atcham, said he wanted cross-party support for the Future Fit proposals for Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH) and Princess Royal Hospital (PRH) in Telford.
The planned re-organisation of the hospitals, managed by Shrewsbury & Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH), has been mired in delays, along with political challenges and legal threats.
However, the plans have taken a major step forward with confirmation that the Strategic Outline Case (SOC) has been approved by the government and the NHS.
The plans will have two further hurdles to clear before work can start – approval for first the outline business case, then the full business case.
Speaking earlier this year the former health Secretary Sajid Javid said it was possible physical work on the £312m plans could start next year.
Mr Kawczynski has now written to Shrewsbury & Atcham's Labour Party, asking to join forces in support of the proposals.
The plans are strongly opposed by neighbouring Telford & Wrekin Council's Labour administration, which says it is concerned at the loss of services from PRH.
In the wake of the confirmation of the latest developments, the leader of Telford & Wrekin Council, Councillor Shaun Davies, pledged to continue to fight against the proposals, and to call on the new prime minister to review them as soon as they take office.
In 2019 Shrewsbury & Atcham's Labour Party joined Telford & Wrekin Council in opposing any plan which would see Telford & Wrekin lose its A&E, over concerns about an overall reduction in acute care capacity in the county, and the prospect of planned care being moved to PRH.
In his letter Mr Kawczynski said: "In other parts of the country, politicians have come together and set aside political differences, jointly lobbying the government for these critically scarce resources.
"Unfortunately that has not been the case in Shropshire, and the trust's inability to secure consensus between Shrewsbury and Telford has led to four years of delays in implementing this investment and the inevitability of reducing its original investment value."
He added: "Seeing at first hand how a lack of change and modernisation has led to significant delays and concerned residents, I am writing this open letter to you as I feel we must join forces on a cross party basis to send a strong signal that we support these changes which will see Shrewsbury become the significant accident and emergency hospital for the county.
"Women and children's services would also return to Shrewsbury, and Telford would become the centre for planned care whilst retaining an A&E Local."
