Royal Shrewsbury Hospital needs extra funding, claims MP

Shrewsbury and Atcham MP Daniel Kawczynski said the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust has to incur extra costs as a result of dealing with both NHS England and the Welsh Assembly.

He raised the issue in the House of Commons with Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health Jane Ellison earlier this week.

Mr Kawczynski asked what the minister was doing to find out what the extra administration costs for dealing with patients from two nations are and what can be done to help meet them.

Ms Ellison said: "We are very conscious of those costs and of the difficult decisions. It is the subject of on-going negotiation between the Welsh Government and NHS England."

Speaking after the debate earlier this week, Mr Kawczynski said concessions should be made for the county's hospital trust because of the geographical position it is in.

He said: "The Royal Shrewsbury Hospital not only serves the people of Shropshire but also those of North Wales because of its close proximity to the Welsh border, as a result, management are having to deal with two separate funding mechanism; the Welsh Assembly and NHS England and as such additional costs are needlessly being incurred by the hospital.

"I have asked the minister Jane Ellison whether the additional funding can be made available for those NHS trusts that are in the same position.

"Our hospital budgets are already stretched and I consider that concessions should be made for those that incur extra costs because of their location."

Concerns about cross-border health were also raised in the same debate by Montgomeryshire MP Glyn Davies.

Mr Davies said the needs of patients in his constituency should be taken into account when NHS commissioners in Shropshire were considering where to locate services.

Ms Ellison said cross-border health care was "an area of great concern" and that she would be happy to discuss the issue with him.