Shropshire hospital trust says steps being taken to improve 'flow' after MP raises long waits in A&E
The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) has apologised for the waiting times some patients have experienced at A&E in Shropshire, after an MP highlighted some harrowing cases in Parliament this week.
North Shropshire MP Helen Morgan shared the experiences of a number of people visiting Royal Shrewsbury Hospital’s (RSH) A&E department in the House of Commons on Tuesday (January 13).
The MP shared their experiences as the Liberal Democrats highlighted NHS figures that show 2025 was the worst year on record for long waits as thousands of patients in the UK waited more than 12 hours at A&Es.
Ms Morgan said SaTH was third-worst in the country for 12-hour A&E waits in October; of the 11,220 patients seen at its A&Es, almost a quarter (2,595) waited more than 12 hours to be seen.
The MP, who is also the Liberal Democrat health spokesperson, joined colleagues in calling for a Government guarantee that no patient would wait more than 12 hours in A&E.
In Parliament, she highlighted the cases of several North Shropshire patients who visited RSH's A&E.
She told the Commons about the cases of Candice, from Market Drayton, who was interrupted while changing her stoma bag behind a curtain on the emergency ward.
She said Lynne, from Trefonen, waited 17 hours for an ambulance after breaking several ribs. On arrival at A&E her ambulance was one of 21 waiting outside. She spent seven hours outside in the ambulance.
And the MP highlighted the case of Sandra, from Oswestry, who has bladder cancer and spent 31 hours waiting, all but two of them on a chair in the 'fit to sit' area. Mrs Morgan said the patient felt let down by an NHS she has paid into for 50 years.
She said: “The experiences of these patients are horrendous, but sadly not isolated. Staff in Shropshire are working extremely hard, but the Government needs to do much more to fix the crisis in emergency care.”
Ms Morgan added: “The figures are shocking and while this is a national scandal, clearly there is a lot more to do in Shropshire to give patients the care they expect, and deserve.”
Ned Hobbs, chief operating officer at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, said “a number of steps” were being taken to make improvements at RSH, which had experienced its best December since the Covid pandemic.
He said: “We are very sorry that some of our patients are experiencing long waiting times to be admitted to our hospitals and a poorer experience of care than we would want.
“We can see signs of improvement - the proportion of our patients admitted, discharged or transferred from the Emergency Department within 12 hours in December was our best December since the Covid-19 pandemic, but recognise there is much more we need to do.
“We are taking a number of steps to improve the flow through our hospitals including an additional 56 inpatient beds at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and an additional 40 acute assessment spaces at Princess Royal Hospital.
“In the meantime, our hard-working colleagues are doing all they can to support patients’ care, dignity and make them as comfortable as possible whilst they wait.”
