Today the Health Secretary Matt Hancock MP visited Telford’s Princess Royal Hospital, following an invitation from the borough’s MPs, Lucy Allan and Mark Pritchard.
The visit included a meeting with elected representatives and a guided tour of the hospital, including the A&E department.
During the visit the Health Secretary made clear he had come to listen to concerns about the many challenges facing the Trust and the Trust’s decision to move both emergency care and the children and women’s unit from Telford to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, 19 miles away.
During the meeting Lucy Allan told the Secretary of State that it was time for Hospital management to listen to local people and re think their flawed plans.
Lucy Allan said:
“The Government is planning to spend a record £312m on hospital care in Shropshire. It is a complete nonsense that the Hospital Trust is planning to use this public money to remove services from Telford, an area of health inequality and need, and to re locate services 19 miles away. Funding must follow need. We have a growing population with pockets of significant deprivation in Telford. It is time to listen to Telford people, we have been ignored too long!”
“Throughout the Future Fit process, the hospital management has failed to listen to local people or even their representatives. Now that they have finally reached a decision, Government must act and must consider the impact of these proposals on the Telford community.”
“However, before the Government can intervene, it needs documentation from the local council. Given how important this issue is to local people, I am beyond shocked that the council has still not provided this. We have heard a great deal of political noise from some senior councillors, but they must not forget they have an important job of work to do in stopping Future Fit and they need to get on with it. Why have they still not done this?”
“The Health Secretary took away some key points from this visit. I am confident that once the Council gets its act together and provides the necessary documentation, the Secretary of State will ensure this flawed project is properly reviewed by an independent panel.”
