MP continues fight for A&E despite government backing

Shaun Davies was leader of Telford and Wrekin Council for eight years

Telford's new Labour MP has said he will continue to fight to save his local A&E from being downgraded, despite a project to reorganise hospital services in the area being backed by the new government.

Building work has started that will ultimately see specialised emergency care focussed at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and planned care at Telford's Princess Royal Hospital.

The £312m project will result in Telford's A&E department being replaced with an Urgent Treatment Centre.

Labour's health minister Karin Smyth said her department was committed to delivering the programme, which received final approval by the previous government.

She made the announcement last week after South Shropshire's new Conservative MP Stuart Anderson questioned the government on whether it would provide the funding.

Women and children's services will also move to Shrewsbury as they clinically need to be located with emergency medicine

She said: "We are committed to delivering the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Transformation Programme as part of the wider NHS upgrades programme.

"This is backed by £312m of capital investment and will improve services and patient flow."

'Fight really hard'

Telford MP Shaun Davies used one of his first spoken contributions in the House of Commons to ask if health ministers would meet with him and other Shropshire MPs to discuss the programme, which he said would make Telford the largest town in England without a fully functioning A&E.

"I will continue to fight to bring back services to Telford's Princess Royal Hospital, and I will fight really hard to do that," he told BBC Radio Shropshire.

"Unfortunately plans were rushed through in the dying days of the Conservative government, but I want to make sure that the hospital that me, my family and friends reply upon has as many services as possible."

Fellow Shropshire MP Stuart Anderson, who replaced Philip Dunne as the Conservative MP for South Shropshire, said he was delighted the programme was going ahead after weeks of uncertainty.

Health bosses have said the scheme will improve facilities and the quality of care.

The Future Fit project that paved the way for the reorganisation is now more than a decade old, and funding for the project was awarded by the government in 2018.

Despite that, it has faced repeated questions over its future and how far the money will go six years on.