South Shropshire MP, Philip Dunne, has welcomed progress in the approvals process for the Hospitals Transformation Programme for the county’s acute hospitals.
The Outline Business Case has been approved formally for the penultimate stage of national approval. Following approval by the Department of Health & Social Care, HM Treasury and NHS England, a Full Business Case is now being prepared by SaTH, which is the final stage in the process.
Funding has also been released to allow for the commencement of enabling works, and to complete the Full Business Case.
Mr Dunne was instrumental in helping to secure £312m funding from government to support capital investment for the project at the Princess Royal Hospital and Royal Shrewsbury Hospital. He also worked with other Shropshire MPs and local NHS leaders to ensure Ministers and their officials were committed to this project.
Mr Dunne said:
“I am very pleased we have now had full approval of the Outline Business Case for this vital project which will improve services and patient experience in our acute hospitals in Shropshire.
“I look forward to final confirmation of the Full Business Case, and to seeing this project finally come to fruition. There have been many hurdles along the way, some of them sadly put in our path for political reasons.
“Patients in South Shropshire and all who use our county’s acute hospital services deserve to know this huge investment in healthcare in Shropshire is going ahead.”
The Independent Reconfiguration Panel has also recently responded to the request for a further review by the leadership of Telford & Wrekin Council by confirming that the proposal set out in the Hospital Transformation Programme “is the best way forward to improve acute hospital services for the whole population served in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, and mid Wales”.
Mr Dunne added:
“It is time to stop seeking to put obstacles in the way and for this investment to flow as the best way to improve services for patients across Shropshire.”