Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps officials in his Department are taking with representatives of Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust to agree the timetable for introducing an A&E Local at the Princess Royal Hospital as part of the Future Fit Programme.

The Strategic Outline Case (SOC) on the reconfiguration of acute services, including emergency services, in Shropshire and Telford and the Wrekin has been submitted to NHS England and NHS Improvement. Under these proposals, accident and emergency (A&E) services will be consolidated on the Shrewsbury site and a 24 hours a day, seven days a week A&E local service will be provided at the Telford site. The SOC will be subject to an assurance review and will require formal approval by the National Joint Investment Committee before it can proceed to the next stage, which will include further detailed business case development.