Shropshire urgent care centre relocation welcomed by Bridgnorth campaigners
Campaigners in Bridgnorth have welcomed the move to relocate two of the county's urgent care centres from its major hospitals into the town.
The centres have moved from Princess Royal Hospital Telford (PRH) and Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH), to the current Minor Injuries Units (MIU) at Bridgnorth and Whitchurch, where they have become urgent treatment centres (UTC).
The relocation has been done while PRH and RSH, both managed by Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH), deal with an influx of seriously ill coronavirus patients.
The move has been welcomed by NHS campaigners in and around the area, who have been calling for health facilities at Bridgnorth Community Hospital to be used as treatment centres for urgent cases.
Town councillor Julia Buckley, who represents East ward, has been campaigning for a centre dealing with patients where their care needs are urgent, but non-life threatening, to be based at the hospital on Old Smithfield.
Councillor Buckley said: "Despite the terrible circumstances, this decision is a welcome relief to families in the Bridgnorth area.
"Once again our community hospital will become a warm site with doctors and nurses to respond to urgent cases.
"As our campaigners have always made clear, these excellent local facilities have a vital role to play in serving our patients closer to home, thus reducing unnecessary travel, and at the same time reducing pressure on both Telford & Shrewsbury hospitals and A&E departments.
"Just this week two different constituents both in their 70s expressed their relief at local hospital care now available for their urgent needs, otherwise headed for Telford.
"Let us hope that after coronavirus has receded into the distant past, that the useful role of our community hospitals will live on, to support the SaTH jigsaw of service provision in our rural community for many years to come."
In Bridgnorth, the UTC will be open from 9am to 9pm, seven-days-a-week and be staffed by a rota of GPs and doctors and nurses from SaTH.
There will be a GP-led service for minor illnesses and injuries including minor cuts, dislocations and back pain.
