If you ask people in Telford what services they value most, the NHS will usually top the list. National focus has been on plans for a 7 day NHS and the changes to junior doctors’ contracts. Locally my focus, as Telford’s MP, has been working to ensure we preserve and enhance services at the Princess Royal Hospital (PRH).
My top priority has always been to ensure that the PRH retains its emergency provision by becoming the location of Shropshire’s only Critical Care Unit. Our healthcare service is a key issue for Telford’s future. As with any rapidly growing population centre, there must be key infrastructure in place; full healthcare provision is essential.
To ensure we all have access to the healthcare we need, free at the point of use, the Government is boosting NHS spending by £10bn per annum by the end of the Parliament. This is on top of the cash increase the NHS received each year during the last Parliament. It is vital that major hospital services are sited where they can deliver the most benefit, to the greatest number of people.
The case for Telford to be the home of Shropshire’s critical care unit is strong. The PRH is ideally positioned within the County, with good road links. It is home already, to the fantastic Women and Children’s Centre so to co locate the new unit alongside makes clinical sense. PRH is located within the largest population centre in the County (which is projected to continue to grow at a rapid pace) and it serves communities with greater health inequalities than elsewhere in the County.
Fighting to bring the critical care unit to the PRH was one of the key issues during the election. Since being elected as Telford’s MP it has continued to be my top priority. I have been busy both publicly and privately, championing Telford as the site of the new unit.
To date I have met with the Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt and his advisors, the new Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals Trust Chief Executive, Simon Wright, and meet regularly with officers from both the Telford & Wrekin CCG and Shropshire CCG.
Whilst the two CCG’s continue to progress with the decision making, you can be assured that I will be doing everything in my power to push for Telford as the site for the new Critical Care Unit.