Telford & Wrekin Council leader calls for clarity on controversial hospital plans

The call comes after Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Group wrote to Health Secretary Sajid Javid to set out controversial plans for services at hospitals in Telford and Shrewsbury, but failed to give any detail on what an “A&E Local” at the Princess Royal would mean in practice, or when changes may be implemented.

Telford & Wrekin Council have been opposed to the Future Fit plans since their inception because of the threat to the borough’s A&E and Women and Children’s Centre.

 Councillor Shaun Davies, Leader of Telford and Wrekin Council (Labour) said:

“Plans to downgrade services at Princess Royal Hospital continue to be developed despite them being out of date and unable to meet the needs of Telford’s communities in a post-pandemic world.

“If Telford’s A&E is set to be downgraded and the consultant led women and children’s unit closed, at the very least, residents deserve to know exactly what this would mean in practice and when they might see these changes implemented. There’s no detail around what an A&E Local would actually do.

"It’s bitterly disappointing that t the new Secretary of State has now put his names against these plans and yet we are still in the dark. They’re not being explained clearly to the public.

“As a council, we remain firmly on the side of our residents and will continue to lobby for alternative plans that could bring world class facilities to people across the whole of Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin. As it stands, an option costing £312 million will leave a blackhole and what will be left at the Process Royal after re-organisation is uncertain.

“Our local NHS remains under massive strain and with no immediate investment, these plans are simply not going to give people access to the NHS services that they value and deserve.”