New A&E centre between Shrewsbury and Telford would cost £520 million
Building a new accident and emergency centre in Shropshire would cost more than £500 million, a report has revealed today.
Health chiefs have released a feasibility study looking at costs and timescales as part of Future Fit, a programme which has been set up to determine how health services should best be provided in the future.
It reveals building on a new green site on an as yet unidentified location somewhere between the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and Telford's Princess Royal Hospital is the most expensive option.
The report says it would cost between £500 million and £520 million.
The new centre would take three years to build and treat people with life-threatening injuries.
Siting the new emergency centre at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital would cost £240 million - but it would take nearly seven years to make the changes to the building to make it ready, the report says.
Putting it at Princess Royal would be cheaper - at £190 million - and quicker according to the study, with the work estimated to take around four-and-a-half years.
Health bosses insisted today no final decisions had been made and stressed the study had only been commissioned to see what could be done, rather than what should be done.
See also:
Wrekin MP Mark Pritchard critical over Shropshire hospitals consultation
Options outlined for future of A&E in Shropshire
