At the quarterly MPs’ briefing with local NHS Leaders on 29th April attended by Shropshire’s Conservative MPs, Philip Dunne suggested that a taskforce within the NHS in Shropshire be established urgently to tackle delays in patients attended to by ambulances responding to emergency calls.  

Ambulance response times are being severely impacted by handover delays at acute Hospitals in the county as has been well flagged in recent months. Mr Dunne has raised ambulance services with Government Ministers and held regular meetings with West Mercia Ambulance Services to hold them to account for the substandard service being provided.  

His call for a new taskforce to review the entire patient flow at Shropshire’s two principal hospitals, Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and The Princess Royal Hospital, is hoped to identify steps that can be taken in the immediate and longer term to eradicate the severe A&E waiting times for those conveyed by ambulances for emergencies and tackling the delays in accessing treatment.  

Earlier this morning, Shropshire MPs and NHS Leaders met with Minster of State for Health, Ed Argar MP to draw these problems to his attention.  

Philip Dunne MP commented;

“I am pleased that the Minister of State for Health, Ed Argar supported my suggestion to establish a dedicated taskforce within the NHS to tackle the unacceptable delays in patients being treated in Shropshire. A meeting is now being arranged later this month to review the progress of this taskforce.  

“The Minister has also agreed to visit Shropshire in late June or early July to see for himself what measures are being taken to reduce patient waiting times and assess the progress being made.”