West Worcestershire MP Harriett Baldwin has called for a plan to make more use of Tenbury’s community hospital as the country moves beyond the pandemic.

Harriett met with the hospital’s League of Friends chair George Bennet to discuss the future of the prized community asset and supported calls to re-instate the minor injuries unit as soon as possible as well as offering a better x-ray service.

The MP has agreed to host a summit with local health chiefs to identify plans for making more use of the hospital as national restrictions are relaxed and local people start returning to their normal way of life.

Harriett said:

“Tenbury’s community hospital is a highly-valued local resource and has shown its importance during the pandemic. Local people have shown how much they value the hospital by raising substantial funds over the years.

“In April the 1.25 per cent National Insurance increase starts, so hand-in-hand with that, I’d like to see a Tenbury-centric plan for delivering more services, more conveniently for people living in rural West Worcestershire.

“I’m inviting the local health chiefs to start planning for how they use these extra funds to deliver a better health and social care system across the county, more focused on delivering services close to where people live.

“As Tenbury grows, we also need to grow the local provision and capacity, working across the border with Shropshire too.

“It has always been my desire to see community hospitals used much better and this year must be a platform to significant improvement.”