The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, which serves the community in Telford, has faced significant challenges this winter with some of the longest ambulance handover delays recorded across England. Local MP Helen Morgan has brought these concerns to Parliament, urging the government to guarantee that struggling hospitals continue to receive essential national support as major changes to the health service approach.
Recent data underscores the scale of the issue, with the West Midlands Ambulance Service reporting that January 2026 was its worst month on record for delays. Across the region, which currently accounts for roughly one-third of all hospital handover delays in the country, 50,070 hours were lost as ambulance crews were unable to transfer patients into hospital care. At the trust level, December 2025 saw an average handover time of 1 hour and 35 minutes, placing the local trust at the bottom of all 121 reporting areas nationally.
Performance data from October 2025 further highlighted these pressures, as the trust ranked as the third-worst in the country for 12-hour waits in accident and emergency departments. During that period, nearly a quarter of the 11,220 patients seen at local emergency rooms waited more than 12 hours to receive care.
In response to these persistent capacity issues, the trust has introduced 56 additional inpatient beds at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and 40 acute assessment spaces at the Princess Royal Hospital. These measures have shown early signs of progress, with February 2026 recording the best average ambulance handover time since August 2025, reaching 1 hour and 11 minutes.
Despite these improvements, the upcoming abolition of NHS England, expected by October 2026, has created uncertainty regarding the future of funding and guidance for trusts currently struggling with high demand. Ms. Morgan has called on the government to ensure that these facilities remain a priority for national support to prevent a return to the lengthy wait times seen earlier this winter.
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