The decision to base the county’s only A&E department in Shrewsbury has been welcomed by the trust that runs both hospitals.

The Joint Committee of Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Groups has approved Option 1 of the NHS Future Fit plans, which means the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford will become a dedicated planned care site and the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital will become a specialist emergency care site.

Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, which runs both hospitals, said this will allow specialist doctors to treat the most serious cases on the emergency care site, which is proven to be safer, provide better results for patients and reduce the amount of time people have to stay in hospital.

The trust said that by having a separate planned care site, patients will wait less time for their appointments and beds would be protected for planned operations, meaning it is highly unlikely operations will be cancelled due to emergency admissions.

In addition, patients will be able to access 24-hour urgent care services at both hospitals. This means that the vast majority of patients will continue to go to the same hospital as they do now for emergency and urgent care.

The plans were given the green light at a meeting on Tuesday night at Harper Adams University which was interrupted several times by a small number of protestors, who said Future Fit should be thrown out altogether.

They warned people will die under the new set-up and called on the government to step in.

Simon Wright, chief executive of SaTH, said: “We are delighted that a decision on the future of our hospitals has been made and that we can now get on with the work of planning and creating two new, state-of-the-art hospitals to provide the best care for the whole population of Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin and Mid Wales.

“The decision means we can begin to shape the future for all of our services, which will help us to attract more staff, improve facilities for our people and develop healthcare that will benefit everyone.”

Dr Edwin Borman, medical director at SaTH, added: “This announcement means we will now be able to provide improved services for the 500,000 people we serve and improved facilities, which will help us recruit more of the very best people in their fields.

“These two re-developed hospitals will provide improved emergency care and improved planned care. It is important to remember that the majority of people who access our current A&Es will still be able to have treatment at their nearest hospital when the reconfiguration is complete.

“Only those most seriously ill and injured patients, in the main people who need to be taken to hospital in a blue-light ambulance, will need to access the new Emergency Centre, which will have the right people and the right equipment in place to ensure they are treated as quickly as possible.”

Deirdre Fowler, director of nursing, midwifery and quality at SaTH, said: “The reconfiguration of our hospitals will allow us to address many of the historic issues we have been dealing with in terms of the age of our hospitals and the way they are set up. This is not the end of the journey; we will turn our focus to ensuring that services in each hospital are the best they can be, and our patients will play a vital role in that through co-producing services in the future.”

Meanwhile, Councillor Peter Nutting, leader of Shropshire Council has welcomed a final decision in a statement released on Wednesday.

"Shropshire Council has been actively engaged in the Future Fit working groups, public meetings and consultation events that have occurred since the initial development of its proposals," he said.

"From the outset, our aim has been, and remains, securing high-quality, clinically-safe and effective health services for the county of Shropshire. We also recognise that there are very experienced clinicians who are striving to ensure that local people have safe and effective health and social care services.

"It is for this reason that we have focused on supporting a clinically-led assessment of the future acute health care needs of the communities across the length and breadth of Shropshire. We have always maintained that any decisions concerning the health of all people in Shropshire should be clinically-led and not politically-led.

"We know that the location of emergency services at Shropshire’s hospitals has been a very significant and emotive issue for all of Shropshire residents. As a council we represent communities in every corner of the county: some of these are closer to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, while others are closer to the Princess Royal Hospital."

He added: "We welcome the fact that, after several years of planning and consultations, a decision has now been made. We must now move forward and focus on those other important services within our communities that will help our residents to stay safe and well for longer and to help avoid an admission to hospital in the first place."