Campaigners committed to protecting NHS services have condemned the latest cuts proposed by Shropshire health bosses.

Following a recent board meeting in Shrewsbury, members of Shropshire Defend Our NHS called some of the decisions taken by the county’s clinical commissioning group ‘shocking’ and said they would unfairly impact upon the most vulnerable.

Healthcare service provision in Shropshire is currently under review because of serious overspending, which has prompted the CCG’s efforts to reduce its deficit of around £13million by making huge savings within its budget.

Funding is set to be withdrawn from several county health, social care and counselling services including the Movement Centre in Oswestry which provides intensive therapy for children with cerebral palsy.

An open letter sent to members of the campaign group by chairman Gill George suggested the proposed cuts appeared to be ‘arbitrary’ with poor consultation between the CCG and affected institutions.

An extract from the letter reads “The cuts proposed by the CCG are completely at odds with their stated priorities of shifting care out of hospital and providing ‘care closer to home instead’.

“This is crude firefighting, in response to a financial crisis caused by underfunding of our local NHS.

“Another national priority for the NHS is meant to be that mental health has parity of esteem with physical health – and that’s certainly not happening in Shropshire, given the level of cuts here to mental health provision.”

In closing the letter, she writes: “No NHS service in Shropshire is safe. The problem is one of funding. The NHS is half way through a decade of the most severe austerity in its existence, receiving far, far less in core funding than it needs.

“Shropshire faces a triple whammy: our share of national cuts, the discrimination against rural areas that’s built into national funding policy, and the underfunding of areas with an older population.

“There isn’t enough money coming into Shropshire’s NHS – and that’s why we are now facing devastating cuts. Whatever the reasons, we can’t allow the most vulnerable members of our community to lose essential services.”

At the meeting on August 10, board members voted to approve the recommendations. The impact of the cuts will be assessed before a final decision is taken.