Comment: Dispatches' Shrewsbury hospital exposé shows how we face some of UK's worst A&E experiences
The shocking state of the county's A&E services will not surprise anyone who's been paying attention over the past six years.
The issue has made national headlines this week after Channel 4's Dispatches sent a reporter undercover as a health assistant at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.
The findings are hugely distressing and Channel 4 deserves plaudits for an incredibly important piece of public interest work, which throws a spotlight on a reality often hidden from the cameras.
While the problems with health services – not just in Shropshire but across the country – are frequently documented in print, the visceral impact of seeing the experiences faced by staff and patients has a different effect.
It's not a lack of imagination on the part of the public, it's natural that people are more able to empathise when they can see what is happening.
And while the documentary will be seen as highlighting 'bad' and 'unacceptable' treatment provided by the hospital it is important to recognise that the overall strains are symptomatic of issues across a broken and beleaguered healthcare system – issues which are dominated by repeated governments' inability to grasp the troublesome, and expensive issue of adult social care.
The issues at A&E are always the most obvious to the public because it is the one place in healthcare where people can still turn up without an appointment and expect help.
It is the visible front door of the healthcare system – and one which is unable to hide.
But the reality is that whatever the strains on the wider system, Shropshire's A&E patients are facing some of the worst experiences in the country.
Undoubtedly grim
The undercover reporter filmed his footage at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH) but the situation is no better across the county at Princess Royal Hospital (PRH) in Telford.
While the delays are one thing the reality of the A&E waiting room experience is undoubtedly grim.
At points in recent months visitors to PRH would have found toilets out of order, anther toilet without a lock, children being looked after behind screens in the rear of the waiting room, and chairs which feel more like they were designed to aid interrogation rather than support sick people.
