Stuart Anderson MP has welcomed government support for Bridgnorth Community Hospital and called for longer-term funding in rural health services. It follows an intervention that Stuart made in Parliament on 6th May 2025, where he urged Health Ministers to invest in rural healthcare facilities in South Shropshire.
In his intervention, Stuart called on Health Secretary Wes Streeting MP to support community hospitals in South Shropshire. He said: “community hospitals can reduce pressure on major hospitals, especially in rural communities such as mine.” Stuart has now welcomed the funding for Bridgnorth Community Hospital, which he hopes is “just the start of further investment from this government in rural healthcare provision”.
The investment was confirmed in a letter to Stuart on 30th May 2025. It is worth £500,000 and will see improvements to ventilation systems. In her letter, the Minister for Public Health and Prevention Ashley Dalton MP stated: “final allocations [were] approved centrally based on the quality and strategic value of proposals received. She added: “This will bring tangible benefits to NHS patients and staff in South Shropshire.”
The upgrades at Bridgnorth Community Hospital are part of a scheme “intended to support strategic improvements beyond routine operational needs.” The £750 million Estates Safety Fund is for “relatively small scale but important building safety works” at over 400 sites in the health system. The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) confirmed that the projects will be delivered this financial year - with the first upgrades expected to begin in the summer.
The Fund is part of a capital funding programme that has been agreed for this year only. Stuart has raised concerns that spending on capital maintenance projects could be cut by a fifth. NHS guidance asks local trusts to “assume” they will receive only 80% of current funds. Stuart hopes a multi-year settlement will be announced as part of the Spending Review the Chancellor will deliver on Wednesday, 11th June 2025.
Stuart hopes that extra funding will enable plans to upgrade facilities in Ludlow. This follows his meeting with Ludlow Community Hospital League of Friends earlier in the year to discuss calls for "an enhancement of services at the hospital" and to "champion a new hospital build on the existing EcoPark originally set aside for that purpose."
Stuart’s campaign to support community hospitals is part of his long-term plan to enhance public services in South Shropshire. This includes understanding the pressures they face and campaigning to improve services. In October, Stuart called on Ministers to put community healthcare facilities “front and centre” of the new government’s ten-year plan for the NHS.
The last government provided historic funding for the NHS. England’s budget increased by more than 45 per cent, to £164.9 billion, between 2018/19 and 2024/25. Since 2010, 45,455 more doctors and 73,426 more nurses were also hired.
Stuart Anderson MP said:
“I have consistently championed investment in our community hospitals as an integral part of rural health provision in South Shropshire. So, I welcome this support for Bridgnorth Community Hospital. Yet, I am concerned that hospital capital maintenance budgets could be cut by up to a fifth next year. As such, I have urged the Chancellor to make this funding just the start of further investment from this government in rural healthcare provision. This would enable upgrades in more areas like Ludlow.”
