The decision to retain accident and emergency services at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital has been applauded by Shrewsbury MP Daniel Kawczynski. 

Daniel said:

“It is very clear to me, as it will be to my constituents, that the Future Fit option appraisal recommends the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH) as the preferred option for the county's new Emergency Centre. But, the local NHS has said that it needs more time and more work to be undertaken before a final decision can be made. I call on them urgently to draw this prolonged debate to an end and endorse what is so clearly recommended - that RSH should be the county's emergency centre.

This latest reconfiguration of our healthcare services has been a lengthy process and has been a difficult and unsettling time both for the residents of Shropshire and Mid-Wales and for NHS employees.  I am pleased that this latest development has come out in favour of Shrewsbury, but am aware that in the short term, this option will not be progressed.

I am confident that long term this decision will offer the best possible emergency provision the people of Shropshire and Mid-Wales. I am of course empathetic to the concerns from people living in the North of Shropshire who would normally use emergency services at Princess Royal Hospital at Telford; in my mind this process was never about compromising on health, it was about sculpting a service that would stand the test of time and be best equipped for the challenges of the future. We have good road links in the north of the county which mean that Shrewsbury can be reached far quicker than those travelling from the South.  For example travel time from Telford to Shrewsbury Hospital is a lot less than for those travelling from Ludlow.

I am however disheartened by the news that the Future Fit has failed to identify the £15M savings as required by NHS England. I have been informed that the restructuring of emergency services will only bring about £2 - 4m of savings which is not enough to clear the deficit that currently exists.  I will be working closely with health officials to scrutinise the whole reconfiguration exercise to try and establish why bigger savings have not been identified to date and what now needs to be done to ensure that we regain stability in our hospital services. I have requested to meet with the NHS Trust Development Authority and NHS England who are responsible for making the decision that has led to this process not concluding, I feel it is important to get across to them the frustration felt by a number of constituents that this process is set to continue.