Council leader says A&E closure would put Telford's growth at risk

Councillor Shaun Davies says keeping an A&E department in Telford is key to its continuing expansion.

He says Telford & Wrekin Council is striving to make the borough the best it can be and said it is "more important than ever" that the borough has a fully-functioning hospital.

Several major building developments are currently under way. Telford & Wrekin Council has a plan to build an extra 15,555 new dwellings before 2031. They include plans recently unveiled for 665 homes on land north of Breton Park Residential Caravan Park, Off New Trench Road in Muxton.

But Mr Davies says an expanding town must be served by a proper A&E and that any degrading of the department at the Princess Royal Hospital could jeopardise that growth.

Mr Davies has called on the government to step in and put the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust into special measures after it was announced that the trust was looking at closing the department at night in the event of a staffing crisis, a step it insists would be a "last resort".

The ongoing Future Fit health NHS review is also recommending that Telford's A&E be permanently downgraded to an urgent care centre, with a specialist emergency centre at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital. Telford's Women and Children's Centre would also move to Shrewsbury.

Almost 30,000 people have now pledged their support for Telford & Wrekin Council's PRH4Me campaign to keep emergency services at the Princess Royal Hospital.

The campaign was launched in March 2016 to keep people informed about how Future Fit could affect them. It allows people to share their stories and show others just how vital the local hospital is.

Council leader Shaun Davies said: "I don't believe we've ever had so much support on any campaign of this kind across Telford and Wrekin. PRH4Me is about to reach another milestone and I would urge anyone who hasn't pledged their support to add their names and leave health bosses in no doubt about the strength of feeling about their local hospital."

The Future Fit decision-making process about the future of hospital services in Telford and Wrekin and Shropshire is currently on hold. Telford & Wrekin Council had raised concerns about the processes that led to an earlier recommendation for the closure of the Princess Royal Hospital's A&E department and recently-opened £28 million Women and Children's Centre and siting them in Shrewsbury.

More recently, the trust running Princess Royal and Royal Shrewsbury Hospitals began considering an overnight closure of Telford's A&E due to a shortage of staff.

Councillor Richard Overton, deputy leader of Telford & Wrekin Council, said: "We are holding a march and rally on April 23 and holding emergency meetings over the disarray in the NHS in Shropshire.

Labour's Councillor Davies has joined with and Conservative leaders in Telford to call for an emergency meeting over the plans.

In the notice of motion for the debate put forward by the authority's leading Labour Party, it said: "This will have a detrimental impact on the health care of our residents in Telford & Wrekin and this council is appalled and shocked by the decision."

Councillor Davies said today that the future viability of Telford as an expanding town was being put in doubt.

He said: "This council is working extremely hard to ensure that we are a place that is talked about for all the right reasons whether this is to invest in, to live in or simply to visit.

"It is even more important than ever that as a growing borough we have a fully functioning hospital – that is one of the key things a new business moving here looks at and many investors insisted on as the new town of Telford grew."

Councillor Davies listed the achievements of the borough and the investment coming in – but said employers and workers coming to the region wanted to know that services, including hospitals, are on their doorstep.

He said: "Look at what we have achieved – our £50 million Growth Fund to attract businesses here is already bringing new employers such as Magna and Polytec, some of the biggest foreign investments in the region, to the borough precisely because we are a good place to do business. These two alone companies will create more than 550 new jobs.

"The MoD has opened its new national fulfilment centre at Donnington, something that in 2011 was set to move to Oxfordshire if the council had not stepped in and created a viable bid for Donnington. This alone will keep around £60 million in the local economy and support hundreds of local jobs

"We are building new industrial units at Hortonwood West that open later this year that the council will let and earn new income from, while also bringing more jobs and growth here.

"Our Nuplace homes for rent scheme is earning the council money to help limit cuts to services, while developing disused land, creating jobs and meeting much-needed demand for a trusted private landlord.

"Southwater has talso ransformed the town centre and its success in attracting visitors here as well creating hundreds of new jobs, while places such as Brookside Hadley, Hollinswood, Newport and Wellington have all had significant regeneration."

He added: "We are doing everything we can to put Telford and Wrekin even more firmly on the map. Our 50th anniversary next year provides an even greater opportunity to show people what a thriving and exciting place we are.

"We have great economic growth, which measures like free parking in all our borough towns help greatly with, while we have one of the lowest council taxes in the region.

"We are doing all we can to make our area a success – the Government must now play its part in supporting a fully functioning hospital serving the largest town in Shropshire too.This great opportunity must not be lost."

Fresh fight for Telford hospital services 30 years on

Telford is fighting the same fight to have proper hospital services in the borough that began more than 30 years ago, according to councillors.

Members of Telford & Wrekin Council's cabinet said predecessors fought in the 80s for a hospital in the town and would fight again to ensure it met residents' needs.

The cabinet held an urgent meeting on Thursday to discuss proposals put forward by the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital's NHS Trust to close the A&E overnight at the Princess Royal Hospital in the wake of staffing shortages.

Members said the borough was rapidly growing through new housing developments and the arrival of major employers, and needed to be supported with proper emergency care. Councillor Richard Overton, ward member for St Georges and cabinet member for health, called on Telford & Wrekin MPs to "sort this chaos out".

"I remember 35 years ago, our predecessors had to fight to get a hospital to serve Telford and called in the Secretary of State then. We need to do that again now.If they start chipping away at our hospital services, it is the thin end of the wedge. We made the case 35 years ago and we must make that case again." Councillor Lee Carter, ward member for Wellington's college ward and cabinet member for finance, said problems at local level were indicative of the financial crisis facing the NHS nationally. While Councillor Paul Watling, ward member for Madeley and cabinet member for adult services, said the overnight closure was the "bell tolling" for the future of the PRH.

Councillor Gilly Reynolds, ward member for Oakengates and Ketley bank and member for education and employment, said: "It is a cruel irony that as Telford celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2018 its hospital services are being downgraded.

Tory councillor Andrew Eade said he supported clinicians calls for a sole emergency care centre in Shropshire, but said it should be based in Telford.