Jeremy Corbyn in Telford: Lack of trained staff has hurt Shropshire A&Es
Both of Shropshire’s A&E departments have struggled because of a lack of trained staff provided to them, according to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Mr Corbyn, who grew up in the county, also called on health bosses to think about the future when they make a final decision on where the county’s hospital services should be located.
It comes as the public consultation on Future Fit reaches the half-way stage.
The process aims to decide where hospital services should be located in Shropshire, with health bosses recommending that a single emergency centre should be based at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.
Rural issue
Mr Corbyn said: “It has always been an issue – access to A&E in rural areas – and it is always going to be an issue.
"With travelling times and distances, ambulances are crucial therefore.
"The two A&Es are vitally important. Both have struggled because a lack of trained staff, which have not been provided for them.
“Health is usually discussed around A&Es in hospitals, which is understandable.
"But one of the biggest issues in hospitals is the lack of social care, numbers of older people who could and should be released from hospital but can’t be.
"The other one is mental health. The lack of beds for people with mental health conditions when they need them urgently is simply a disaster.
“There is a big demand, an ageing population in Shrewsbury and the Welsh border area, and a growing population in Telford. Think to the future, not just today.”
Mr Corbyn was speaking to the Shropshire Star after a tour around Telford manufacturer Protolabs yesterday.
Ambulance impact
He was joined by Katrina Gilman, who will stand for Labour in Telford at the next general election.
She said: “How is the ambulance service going to cope when they have longer journeys?
"GP services and mental health services are really overstretched. If we look after people’s mental health it is amazing to see how much better their physical health is.
"It has to be about all the other services being able to fit together.
“We have to have a debate about A&Es and the mother and baby unit.
"The mother and baby unit was built here for a very good reason.
"The A&E linked with that has to give people access to services.
"We have also got to improve those services so people don’t find themselves having to go to A&E in the first place. Future Fit is not it.”
Manufacturing
Mr Corbyn was visiting Protolabs as part of Labour’s campaign focusing on boosting manufacturing in the UK.
The visit began with a discussion on the manufacturing sector between the Labour leader and key members of the Protolabs executive team, followed by a tour of the facility.
WATCH: Corbyn speaks in Birmingham
The Labour Party’s campaign launch began in the morning in Birmingham with a speech by Mr Corbyn to the EEF, the manufacturers organisation.
In that speech he said: “A lack of support for manufacturing is sucking the dynamism out of our economy, pay from the pockets of our workers and any hope of secure well-paid jobs from a generation of our young people.
"It must be our job in government to reprogramme our economy so that it stops working for the few and begins working for the many.
“Labour is launching this campaign today because we want to see well-paid jobs in the industries of the future, fuel the tax revenues that fund our public services and the NHS and increase living standards for all.”
