AN assurance from Ludlow MP and health minister Philip Dunne that the town’s hospital is safe has been greeted with scepticism.

Philip Dunne made the commitment at the annual meeting of the Friends of Ludlow Hospital in one of his first engagements since becoming a health minister.

But the MP has been reminded that it was on his watch that Ludlow lost its promised £25 million hospital and health village three years ago because of changes made by a government of which he was a member.

“It is going to remain a hospital that provides good services – better than many other community hospitals in other parts of the country,” Philip Dunne told the meeting.

“We have fought and need to fight to keep that and improve the services rather than reduce them.”

He said there were no plans to reduce services at the hospital.

David Evans, interim accountable officer for the Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group, also tried to provide reassurance about the future of Ludlow Hospital.

“Ludlow Hospital is not under threat of closure – let me be absolutely clear about that,” he said.

“I believe there should be an increased rate of services offered in Ludlow and other community hospitals, not a reduction. I think there is real potential for Ludlow to become a health and wellbeing centre as well as a community hospital.”

But Peter Corfield, chairman of the Hospital League of Friends is less convinced.

“We are now in the ridiculous position of seeing rent demands for the well-worn site based on the old workhouse that are similar to the £1.5m a year that the NHS would have been paying for the proposed new hospital cancelled in 2013,” Peter Corfield said.

He is unhappy that the site of the current hospital is in the hands of the property arm of the NHS.

“Claims by the property company to have invested £81,000 in the site over the past three years is insignificant compared with the refurbishment costs of two wards by Shropshire Community Health Trust, about £200,000 and the equipment costs funded by the league, £94,000 in this year alone,” added Peter Corfield.

“We have been fobbed-off with half-truths and poor governance and it is unsurprising that local people believe that it is only a matter of time before our hospital is run-down and closed.”

Peter Corfield reminded the meeting that, within the last year, promises had been made about Urgent Care Centres based on the community hospitals only to see those proposals axed.

Andy Boddington, who represents Ludlow on Shropshire Council, is concerned because he says that the new hospital and health village had been promised until it was stopped at the 11th hour.

“The news that the hospital looks set to survive is very welcome,” said Andy Boddington.

“But although we have a political and policy commitment to keep Ludlow Hospital but I am not yet convinced the story stacks up. We had that level of political commitment with the ill-fated Eco Park hospital project.”