Prime Minister: 'Future Fit hospital re-shuffle plans are progressing'

The Prime Minister has responded in a letter to Daniel Kawczynski after the Shrewsbury MP wrote to Mr Johnson asking for reassurance that work will swiftly resume on the programme.

Mr Kawczynski said the delays over the project had put lives at risk and reminded the Prime Minister of an assurance he had given in January when he said: "We are indeed getting on with that job, and the Secretary of State for Health says that he will personally intervene to ensure that is done."

In a letter of response, the Prime Minister said: "Over the last few months the NHS has been responding to an unprecedented challenge stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic, which continues to have a substantial and far-reaching impact on the delivery of clinical services and staffing across the country.

"A number of the hospitals transformation programme team members are clinical staff, and were therefore redeployed at the height of the pandemic to support Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust's response.

"I understand staff have now returned, and are ready to progress the programme, subject to confirmation of the funding required for the business planning stage from NHS England and NHS Improvement, with the aim of developing an outline business case in the first half of 2021."

Covid-19 coverage:

• See the latest coronavirus stories from Shropshire, Mid Wales and beyond

• Coronavirus: Latest number of deaths and confirmed cases in Shropshire, Telford and Mid Wales

• Star Neighbours - how you can give and get help locally

The project, which was previously in the hands of the Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Groups, was signed off by a joint committee in January last year, following a public consultation in 2018.

It gave the go-ahead for Shropshire's accident and emergency provision to be centred in Shrewsbury, while Telford's Princess Royal Hospital would be redeveloped as a centre for planned care.

However, it has since been tweaked by Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who ruled the county's main emergency centre would be based in Shrewsbury as planned, but Telford is to have an 'A&E Local' instead of an urgent care centre.

PRH is also due to lose its consultant-led women and children's services under the scheme, which has attracted fierce opposition from campaigners.

A document leaked to the Shropshire Star last year showed the cost of delivering the original hospital shake-up scheme had soared by almost 60 per cent to £498 million – £186m more than first anticipated.

Last month, Sir Neil McKay, chairman of the county’s sustainability and transformation partnership, said capital costs for the scheme now stand at approximately £530m.

A single site hospital for Shropshire has been dismissed after it was revealed it would cost almost £1 billion to build.