REDDITCH'S MP has meet with the Health & Social Secretary Matt Hancock to demand services be brought back to the Alex Hospital.

Rachel Maclean, MP for Redditch County, met with the Health & Social Secretary to make the case for her campaign - to help ease pressure on Worcestershire Royal Hospital.

The MP has previously called for a range of services to be returned to the Alex, including maternity and paediatric services, after she said hospital centralisation ‘was not delivering’ for Redditch residents.

During the recent meeting with Matt Hancock, she discussed her campaign as well as what his department is doing to support Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.

Speaking following the meeting, she said: "I’m often asked what these meetings actually achieve, and it’s a fair question, but having these conversations with the man in charge of our country’s health services ensures the Alex and the trust remain at the forefront of his mind.

“Having visited the trust, I know the Health Secretary is as concerned as we are about the trust’s performance. The frontline staff are doing a fantastic job under extreme pressure and I know we’re all incredibly grateful for what they do.

“The trust has been in special measures for far too long now. Rightly my constituents are asking when will this end.

“Having met regularly with the trust’s leadership team, I know the green shoots of improvement are emerging, but nearly five years on from entering special measures, there is a sense that the trust is stuck in a continuous holding pattern.

“There is investment going into the trust, and I’ve helped lobby the Government for millions of pounds of investments, but I now want to see services returned to the Alex to help ease pressure on Worcestershire Royal Hospital."

Mrs Maclean added: "I will continue to push for this, to hold regular meetings with the trust and the Health Secretary to ensure my constituents get the first-class health services they deserve.”