Matt Hancock MP, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care: Future Fit Telford and Wrekin A&E services. I am writing to ask how the decision to downgrade the A&E in Shropshire’s largest county town and move the existing £28M Women and Children’s facility built only 5 years ago to be recreated in another location can be justified, and to express my concerns at the recent decisions made in respect of the Future Fit Plans for Telford. I cannot understand the justification of the decision which is wasteful of public funds, flies in the face of all logic, current demographic information and the potential growth of the Telford population The Future Fit process has been mismanaged locally for many years and this decision compounds the feeling that our growing population is now let down by a government which has not taken a proper long term view or considered wasted public funds and the interests of the community. Michael Marshall.

Its disgusting to hear that we have not had the support of Matt Hancock on the state of our local hospital , Princess Royal Telford. We moved here 52yrs ago. Area then was made up of villages. The New Town was built, with population growing by the minute, growing families and industries. My concern is that money as been ploughed into hospital, for children's ward to now be dismissed to plough more money into the Shrewsbury hospital also the state of our A&E. Good news is that C.T. Scanner is to be replaced. Both hospitals should be looked after. I wonder how Trust as allowed things to get in this mess. You have to have foresight in dealing with problems as they arise but also things put in place for training, management, cost of drugs, new equipment, and listening to people who work in the hospital but also people that use them. We should appreciate our health workers. Encouragement starts at the schools first, with first aid and work experience for those who feel that this is there vocation. Let the Doctors,, Matrons,, Sisters,, Nurses,, Cleaners,, Cooks, Helpers who deal with babies and elderly, ambulance drivers etc do their job,, looking after the safety of patients.

The county of Shropshire deserves to have both SRH and PRH fully funded for A&E services. However, no one should be surprised by Hancock's confirmation of Future Fit's decision, it has always been the choice of Government to cut back on services (to save money). No doubt this decision will mean that the A&E department at Shrewsbury will become stretched further, making matters worse. PRH (and the people of Telford) have become greatly disadvantaged by joining with RSH to form SaTH. It has gone from a hospital that was debt free, to one that has accumulated a gross amount of debt. It is obvious that RSH will, in the future, continue to attract the bulk of the funds allocated to the Trust, and PRH will continue to have its debt increased to pay for those services at RSH. No doubt, in the future, the very existence of PRH will be put into question as the debt grows leading to the inevitable question of the financial viability of two hospitals in close proximity. This decision may (from a management of medical services view point) be a necessity within financial constraints, however, it is still a bad decision, and one that we will all regret in the long term.

The people of Telford fought long and hard to get an A&E department for the PRH,the arguments we used then are just as valid today, even more so with the expanding population. The decision to downgrade is purely political,it's the same old Shrewsbury is the county town and should have the lions share. We are Telford & Wrekin. We deserve better. Didn't Boris just make a speech saying how the government was going to improve the NHS? Politics has put the lives of our armed forces at risk and now they are putting the people who pay their wages at risk. We. Not them, know better.

My Facebook comment to Matt Hancock. I’m interested to know if you have ever been to Telford and surrounding areas of Shropshire. Currently the NHS hospitals are satisfying local need though would welcome additional funding due to a quickly increasing population. However your advised decision on the plans to take A and E away from Telford to the outskirts of Shrewsbury, where there is no easy transport links, suggests you don’t understand the demographic. Look at the population statistics please. Also, I’m surprised you would agreed that a highly regarded, specially designed centre for women and children, built 5 years ago for £28 million, is no longer needed. I respectfully suggest that you visit and understand the areas where you make decisions which can be hugely challenging for the local people and mean life or death for some people. I look forward to your response.

I Posted on his Facebook site and was going to copy here but it lasted a few seconds/minutes on his site. Although I copied my post it has been deleted almost immediately from his page and I can’t now repaste it. Democracy?

The government has not a clue what people need. We have a vast number of post war people in this part of the country who are strong and would never abuse the NHS unless they needed support but then discover they have to travel an extra 15 plus miles for emergency treatment which could be crucial. It is not acceptable.

By closing Telford A&E they are only overstretching a system which is already close to collapse in both hospitals ,it's like trying to push a quart into a pint pot. This may seem a good idea at the time, but will only cost millions in the future when it's realised that the system does not work . Of cause this will only happen after a number of deaths.

The health secretary will be directly responsible for many deaths of women,children and residents of Telford if the A&E at the PRH and woman and child centers are transfered to Shrewsbury.Its a great pity that most MPs live in a safe protected little bubble with no idea whats going on in the real world.Shame on you.

I get the feeling the Tories and Matt Hancock really want to lose this critical marginal seat in the forthcoming election. Maybe somebody should point this out to both himself and Lucy Allen!