Rooms for relatives could be built at Ludlow Hospital

Supporters of Ludlow Hospital have begun talks with NHS bosses over the plans, which they hope will ease the worry of family members who may live miles away from the hospital.

Peter Corfield, chairman of the League of Friends, said the rooms would be offered to relatives of the most seriously ill patients.

"For many years we have been concerned about relatives of patients who are at a critical stage of life," he said.

"When we thought Ludlow was getting a new hospital, we decided to have two relatives' suites so they would have somewhere to stay to be close by.

"It would also give them an opportunity to have private conversations with doctors and nurses to discuss some of the delicacies of their relatives' illness.

"We are in such a rural area that we quite often have people travelling half way across south Shropshire to visit relatives.

"To not have to face a panic run in the middle of the night would be one less thing for them to worry about."

Mr Corfield said when plans for the new hospital were dropped in 2013, the league held some money in reserve in the hope of getting relatives' rooms built in the future.

While any building work would need to be funded by the NHS, it is hoped supporters would get behind a fundraising campaign to kit out the new suites to make them a real 'home from home' for those needing to stay.

Mr Corfield said: "We have already built a relatives' room which fulfils the confidentiality for briefing and is also a place to sit in comfort if you are sitting around for a long time.

"That is very useful but it doesn't meet the requirement, if someone is getting near the end of life and is too ill to be at home, for their relatives to be able to stay over.

"When couples are in this position, often the relatives are just as old as the patient and the stay is quite considerable."

Mr Corfield said talks were at a very early stage and it was not anticipated the potential new rooms would be open for several years.