THE top health boss in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin has promised that additional beds will be made available following a 25-hour wait for treatment by a former Wem mayor.

Simon Whitehouse, chief executive officer for NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, made the vow on Thursday after a meeting of a health board this week.

It comes after Pauline Dee, a former Shropshire and Wem councillor with more than 40 years of civic duty behind her, was left waiting 25 hours last week for a bed at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.

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Her experience was used by Helen Morgan, MP for North Shropshire, to highlight the current health crisis that she says the county is facing

Mr Whitehouse issued an apology for the wait faced by Mrs Dee, but said that extra beds and consideration of what service to use by patients will be alleviate the pressure.

“I understand the concerns raised by Helen Morgan MP and apologise to any patients who have experienced long waits for care,” he said.

“Our health and care system continues to experience high levels of demand – this is impacting all our services, especially our A&Es and waiting times in those departments.

“The £21.4m of funding, allocated to the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH), will be used to create additional winter bed capacity and will be delivered in partnership with Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust.

“During the meeting of the Integrated Care Board yesterday, both Trusts provided assurance that 46 beds will be fully operational from January 2024, with additional beds coming on stream later in the year.

“I urged people to ‘think which service’ and choose the right service for their needs to help reduce the pressure and enable people to get the care they need, as quickly as possible.

“I would also ask that people be respectful to all health and care staff.”

Mrs Dee was full of praise for the staff but said that she was ‘appalled at the conditions and strain that the staff are under’.

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She added: “They never stop working,

“Despite this, the lack of facilities and accommodation mean that people in Shropshire are not getting the care they need.”

Mrs Morgan said: “This is nothing short of a crisis and we need immediate action as well as long-term planning.”