Would-be MP adds his support to Bishop's Castle Hospital beds campaign
A parliamentary election candidate has given his backing to a campaign to save hospital beds in Bishop's Castle.
A health trust is seeking local feedback on whether it should pull out of a contract to run 16 in patient beds at Bishop's Castle Hospital which have been closed for months.
It says it has unsuccessfully tried to recruit to positions.
Now Chris Naylor, the Lib Dem parliamentary candidate for the South Shropshire constituency, has given his backing to the Save Bishop's Castle Community Hospital beds campaign.
He said: "At the weekend I joined over a hundred other patients, doctors, councillors signing the important recent 'Defend Rural Health Care' letter.
“We need more beds not fewer right now. And we know too that one of the big problems tackling Covid was lack of beds - if there’s another pandemic we’ll be kicking ourselves if we’ve just closed beds."
He adds that he is writing in support focusing on three key points:
Reopen the closed beds at Bishop's Castle; commit to ongoing local services at all our local community hospitals - Bridgnorth and Ludlow as well as Bishop's Castle, and agree up-to-date ‘Rural Strategies’ with our health providers to address the particular contexts of Shropshire’s rural communities.
Former councillor Mr Naylor has lived by the Long Mynd in All Stretton since 2016.
He is a former member of his local patients participation group and two of his family trained as doctors.
