Health Secretary says more A&E beds will be in place for Shropshire 'very soon'

The beds are planned for Shrewsbury & Telford Hospital NHS Trust, which manages both Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and Princess Royal Hospital in Telford.

A&E departments at both hospitals have delivered some of the worst performance in the country over the past year.

The comments on fresh beds came from Health Secretary Victoria Atkins, who was responding to a query from North Shropshire's Liberal Democrat MP, Helen Morgan.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Mrs Morgan had highlighted the need for action to improve Shropshire’s ailing emergency services, and asked for assurances that measures to ‘ease winter pressures’ would be in place urgently.

She said: “Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust has one of the most challenged A&E departments in England for a number of reasons.

“In August last year, the Government awarded a grant of £21 million pounds to provide extra beds to ease some of those issues in the A&E, but those beds aren't online and operational yet.

“I wonder what assurances the Secretary of State can give to us that the measures have been taken to ease winter pressures are going to be in place to actually help people before the winter is over?”

In response the Health Secretary said: "I will ask my Right Honourable Friend to liaise with her directly. As I say, the latest figures I have from NHS England working with local trusts is that more than 3,000 of these extra 5,000 beds were in situ in December.

“We expect the 5,000 deadline to be met very shortly. And so I hope she will be seeing that at local level in her hospital very, very soon.”