Fears north Shropshire towns may miss out in NHS shake-up

The mayors of Whitchurch, Wem and Ellesmere have said they would welcome an emergency care centre closer to home, but fear missing out on the best service.

It comes after North Shropshire MP Owen Paterson said towns in the north of the county are getting left out amid "bickering" over plans to link the two hospitals in Shrewsbury and Telford with a single emergency care centre.

Mayor of Wem, Councillor Mandy Meakin, said: "If the services were moved to Telford it would be drastic for north Shropshire.

"Of course we would like an emergency care centre in north Shropshire, but to move the centre entirely to Telford would be awful.

"It is far enough for people to go to Shrewsbury when travelling from Whitchurch, but Telford is such a long way when you have a life-threatening injury.

"We used to have cottage hospitals where you could go if it wasn't life threatening and you would get seen straight away. Moving the Monkmoor walk-in to A&E was a silly thing to do."

Mr Paterson has said he would like to see one large A&E department, with a "network" of doctor-led urgent care centres around the county.

Mayor of Whitchurch, Councillor Rob Hewson, said: "I do believe that it doesn't matter if Telford or Shrewsbury have the services, as long as the people of Whitchurch and north Shropshire get the best service they can.

"There shouldn't be any bickering going on."

Councillor Alan Clarke, Mayor of Ellesmere added: "I think it is right to be concerned.

"I don't think we are forgotten about. But I think there should be a central point in Shrewsbury that makes it easier for people on the opposite end of the county to Telford."

Mr Paterson has praised the new £1million medical practice in Prees, set to be open by the end of February, and said he would like to see centres like it take on urgent care services to lift the strain on A&E departments.

He said: "Elderly people do not like travelling all the way to Telford or Shrewsbury – it is difficult. A&E services are not that great in the scheme of things – we are increasingly losing services in Shropshire.

"If we had an emergency care centre closer, we would be bringing facilities back into Shropshire. What I think we need is one emergency centre, with a network of doctor-led urgent care centres doing an awful lot of the work for A&E."