Shrewsbury election candidate accuses rivals of 'refusing to understand' hospital reforms

Speaking at a hustings event in Meole Brace, Daniel Kawczynski said further delays to the hospital transformation programme at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust would see both sites “continue to deteriorate”.

But in reply both Labour and Green candidates accused the Conservative government of underfunding the NHS, and said an immediate injection of cash was needed to rescue health services in the county.

In May, the full business case for the reconfiguration of the county’s two main hospital sites was approved, releasing £312million for work to make the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital the county’s main emergency care site, with most planned care moving to Telford’s Princess Royal(PRH).

The debate took place prior to the airing of a Channel 4 documentary which alleged serious shortcomings in care in accident and emergency services at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.

“Seven years ago 300 doctors, surgeons and clinicians, the men and women who are at the coal face of providing these services at our local hospital trust decided that for patient safety and modernisation they wanted to reconfigure these services on these two hospitals, just thirteen miles apart serving the population of Shropshire and the whole of mid Wales,” said Mr Kawczynski.

“We secured the £312m seven years ago and we’re only just going to construction. Why? Because we live in a county where the ‘other’ part, Telford, refuses to understand the interdependence between these two towns and just how interdependent the trust is in serving all of the people of Shropshire and mid Wales.”