Community hospital's future set to be discussed

The mayor of a Shropshire market town is to host a public meeting later over concerns about its hospital's future.

Councillor Beverley Waite said there had been a reduction in clinics at Ludlow Community Hospital and locals have been struggling to get appointments, sparking fears it is being "quietly closed down".

The meeting will be held at Ludlow Assembly Rooms at 1800 GMT, following the scaling back of clinics and the closing of a midwife unit.

However in a joint statement, Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust and NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin said the services provided at Ludlow hospital continued to be a vital part of long-term plans.

"Going forward we will continue to work together, as NHS providers and commissioners, to seek opportunities to further develop services to meet the needs of local people now and in the future," they said.

"Alongside this, we are developing plans for engaging and involving local people to understand and respond to their needs when designing future services."

Attendees of the meeting will include senior figure from both the town's GP surgeries, the hospital's league of friends and a number of healthcare campaigners.

Gill George from campaigners Defend Our NHS, said she believed there had been "cut after cut after cut without consultation", citing instances over the years such as a reduction in the number of beds and the closure of the midwife-led unit.

And Waite addied: "Clinics are going down to one day a week, which if you think about it logically, makes those clinics every expensive... if a clinic's very expensive, then the NHS won't continue to run it.

"They're spending a lot of money on Telford hospital and the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital - the NHS haven't got a lot of money and they don't want to spend it on Ludlow."

She said the maternity base in the town has been sold and become a coffee shop and arts venue.

"A lot of our residents are vulnerable or elderly and expecting them to go all the way up to Shrewsbury or go to Telford for clinics is either too expensive for them, they can't get there, or it's too stressful," she said.

She said that after gathering the findings of the meeting, she would report back to the local NHS, which had agreed to meet her and others involved.

"Ludlow's got 11,000 people in it, and we've got all the surrounding areas… they can't not pay attention to us, we're not a small town," Waite added.

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