Telford MP makes plea to new Chancellor for hospital funding
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has been lobbied for funding for Telford's Princess Royal Hospital, following a promise by the Prime Minister for 20 new hospital upgrades.
Newly installed Prime Minister Boris Johnson made a commitment to the hospital upgrades during a speech in Downing Street last week.
Telford MP Lucy Allan has now written to new chancellor Sajid Javid asking him to consider allocating capital to PRH.
Under the Future Fit hospital shake-up plans, PRH will be stripped of its consultant-led women and children's services and its A&E will be downgraded to become an urgent care centre.
The £312 million scheme is currently being scrutinised by an Independent Reconfiguration Panel which will make recommendations to Health Secretary Matt Hancock on whether there is a need to review the decision made in January.
Health commissioners approved plans for Royal Shrewsbury Hospital to host the county's only emergency centre in the future, and for PRH to take over responsibility for planned care.
But Ms Allan has argued that the consequences for people in Telford are of the 'utmost concern'.
She says additional funding for PRH is much needed and will help ensure the best outcomes for patients.
In her letter, Ms Allan said: "Due to a healthcare reconfiguration plan in Shropshire known as Future Fit, the Health Secretary is due to announce in the next few weeks, that the PRH’s 24-hour A&E will be downgraded to become an urgent care centre and we will lose our women and children’s centre with investment and resource being moved 20 miles away to the county town of Shrewsbury, as Shrewsbury receives investment to become a new trauma centre.
"Whilst this is welcome news for Shrewsbury residents, the consequences for Telford are of the utmost concern.
"My constituency has significantly poorer health outcomes than the rest of Shropshire and has pockets of very significant deprivation.
"Due to the health pressures on our local hospital, leading to some of the worst waiting times in the country, the PRH needs urgent investment to ensure the health and safety of everyone it serves."
Health commissioners say clinicians have led on developing the Future Fit scheme and, at both hospitals, patients will be able to access outpatient services, 24-hour urgent care, midwife-led services and tests.
They say the decision followed many years of planning and a public consultation last year.
Telford & Wrekin Council formally referred the decision on Future Fit to Mr Hancock.
