Shropshire Star comment: £1 million help is the tonic so needed
With good cause, our local health services frequently find themselves making headlines for all of the wrong reasons.
They are frequently a cause of anxiety and stress for many as planned reorganisations fail to materialise, as inefficiencies are highlighted and as chronic funding shortages emerge in this era of continued austerity.
It is little wonder that public confidence is not as high as it might be as such issues as Future Fit are dragged out over a period of years and as uncertainty consumes processes that ought to be more straightforward.
That outlook is balanced, of course, by the work of the men and women who conduct themselves in an exemplary manner on a daily basis and go the extra mile. Doctors, nurses and ancillary staff make the best of the hand they are dealt and seek to improve the quality of life for patients.
Beyond that, there are occasionally reasons to be cheerful. And the news that up to £1 million will be spent on improving hospital theatres is one of those.
The number of operations in the eye treatment department at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust will treble from 40 to 120 per week. The consequences for patients will be profound as more and more people enjoy a better quality of life.
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The eye department had been in crisis and too many people had suffered long waits for treatment. That situation, thankfully, is being resolved as investment is brought to the trust to bring down waiting times and ensure patients come first.
It is no less than local people deserve, of course, for the department in question is one that can bring about quantum improvements in the quality of life of local residents.
And let’s hope that in future there are more occasions when people are able to cheer their local hospitals as they perform the jobs that people expect. The NHS is under pressure and a shot in the arm for a specific department won’t end all of the ills that have caused such trouble.
However, it is a step in the right direction and we must be pleased that money has been found to help those in need.
With progress finally being made on Future Fit, we must hope public confidence in the health service is fully restored in the near future.
