MP concedes fight to save town's A&E is over

A Labour MP has conceded his town's A&E department will be downgraded, despite leading a 14-year fight to save it.

Shaun Davies' pledge to save Telford's A&E at the Princess Royal Hospital, was a key part of his campaign that saw him elected at the general election, in July.

He conceded defeat after meeting health minister Karin Smyth, who said contracts agreed by the Tory government for an Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC) to replace the A&E would cost millions of pounds to reverse.

Davies, ex-leader of Telford and Wrekin Council, used one of his first House of Commons speeches to call on his own government to reverse the "discredited and disgraceful decision" to close the A&E.

"The move will take place because contracts were signed by the Conservative government on the day they called a general election," he said.

"It's not possible to break those contracts without spending hundred of millions of pounds in compensation.

"Our A&E, after 14 years of fighting to keep it in Telford, will move to Shrewsbury, there's no doubt about that now."

"But I will continue to make the case for services to come back to Telford as quickly as possible," he added.

Shaun Davies and health minister Karin Smyth will meet again later this year

The transformation programme, known as Future Fit, is already under way at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust (SaTH).

The scheme, first proposed in 2013, is a £312m investment in the county's healthcare, moving elective care to the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford and specialist emergency care to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.

It is being supported by the new Labour government, with Smyth announcing her commitment to the project in July, saying the investment "will improve services and patient flow" at both hospitals.

SaTH has said 65% of patients who attend Telford's current A&E department would continue to be treated on site when the service becomes an UTC.

But Davies had continuously argued the plan will make Telford the largest town in Britain without a fully-functioning A&E.