Former Shropshire mayor tells of 25-hour A&E wait at county hospital

Pauline Dee, who was a Wem councillor for nearly 40 years and served as the town’s mayor, said she had to visit the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital twice last week.

She said: “I was taken into Accident and Emergency at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital twice last week. The first time wasn’t so bad, but my second trip took 25 hours from phoning 999.

“After a long wait, I arrived at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital at 1.30pm on Tuesday but didn’t have a bed until 4.45am on Wednesday morning. Another gentleman in around the same time spent Tuesday morning through to evening in an ambulance outside.

“I am appalled at the conditions and strain that the staff are under – they never stop working. Despite this, the lack of facilities and accommodation mean that people in Shropshire are not getting the care they need.

“When I first came to Wem, the situation wasn’t perfect, but a ‘bad wait’ was three or four hours. Now we are in a situation where people are having experiences like mine every week, which is simply not acceptable.

“It is clear to me that Shropshire’s emergency care is a crisis and needs a response from the Government reflective of that.”

Now North Shropshire Lib Dem MP Helen Morgan has asked the chief executive of the Shropshire NHS ICB for an urgent update over a promised emergency package to protect Shropshire’s emergency services over the winter.

The MP has written to the head of the local health service after hearing stories from Pauline and many other constituents over the state of emergency care in the county.

She said: “Shropshire’s emergency care services face a crisis over the winter, and experiences like Pauline’s are all too common. It is simply not good enough, and extra support for our hospitals cannot come soon enough.

“This is nothing short of a crisis and we need immediate action as well as long-term planning."

The Shropshire NHS ICB has been approached for comment.