Protest planned over Telford hospital A&E closure

A protest has been planned by a local authority after a hospital trust decided to close an A&E department overnight.

Princess Royal Hospital in Telford is to shut its emergency department overnight for a period of six months.

Telford and Wrekin Council organised the march and rally, to take place in Wellington on 4 November, with the help of action group NHS4All.

The hospital trust has said the closure is necessary to ensure patient safety.

The council recently launched a petition, calling for a government rescue package to prevent the overnight closure of A&E, with more than 21,000 people having signed it within a week.

Earlier this week, the leader of the Labour-run authority called for tradespeople to help refurbish doctor accommodation on hospital grounds.

The trust said the closure is in response to shortages in specialist staff affecting the trust's two A&E departments in Telford and Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.

Council leader Shaun Davies said: "We have organised the rally as all the people we have spoken to have said they want to come together publicly and symbolically and make their voices heard.

"There is a strong sense of feeling about the hospital and this an opportunity for people to express that.

"The trust is set to lose £3.4m if the closure goes ahead, and if it does, hospitals in Wolverhampton and Stoke will have to pick up the slack.

"People have told me they feel it's completely outrageous."

Last month, Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust's board ruled the Telford hospital would suspend services overnight.

The trust said the closure is in response to shortages in specialist staff affecting the trust's two A&E departments in Telford and Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.

The department will soon be shutting from 20:00 to 08:00 for a period of six months.

Telford Conservative MP Lucy Allan said: "The whole community is united. We must do everything we can to stop these closures."

In September, the Care Quality Commission took urgent enforcement action when an inspection highlighted safety fears.

The trust was already under investigation over allegations of dozens of avoidable deaths and injuries in its maternity unit.