Helen demands action on Shropshire cancer delays in meeting with Minister
Helen Morgan challenged a senior Health Minister over Shropshire’s dangerously long cancer waits and ambulance delays in a recent meeting in Parliament.
MPs from across Shropshire met with Minister Will Quince in a meeting arranged by Helen Morgan and Lucy Allan due to their concerns over performance at Shropshire’s hospitals.
Helen, the Liberal Democrat MP for North Shropshire, called for urgent action to improve cancer waiting times in the county – with new figures showing Shropshire’s two main hospitals are performing well below standard.
It comes in as statistics were published by Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust that less than half of Shropshire cancer patients are being treated within two months – against a target of 85% - and in January and February the figures were below 40%.
As of 25th April there were 443 cancer patients who had waited over 62 days for treatment at the trust, with particular issues with delays for crucial scans at the hospitals.
Helen Morgan, MP for North Shropshire said, “Hundreds of patients in Shropshire are having to wait over two months to access cancer treatments – it is putting lives at risk and simply is not good enough.
“I made this clear to Health Minister Will Quince and demanded that serious improvements are made to stop people suffering unnecessarily long waits for vitally important treatment.
“It is important that Ministers acknowledge how rural parts of the country like Shropshire have different needs to our urban counterparts, and how difficult our services can be to access - especially given the dire state of public transport in the county.”
Helen has pledged to continue raising the issue of cancer waiting times and to monitor the NHS Trust’s progress closely.