A major investment of £300 million to build a new hospital to service Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, and mid Wales, has been confirmed by the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, this morning.

The money - which is the single biggest capital injection of its kind in the NHS for over a decade - will bring to fruition the long-running and controversial Future Fit plans which seek to shake-up healthcare across the region subject to a public consultation which should begin in the next few weeks.

It forms a £760m investment for hospitals across the UK to modernise.

Mr Hunt said: "As the NHS approaches its 70th birthday, we are backing it with one of the largest capital programmes in NHS history.

"As well as a whole new emergency care development in Shropshire, we are backing local NHS services with new buildings, beds and wards so that staff who have been working incredibly hard over winter can have confidence we are expanding capacity for the future.

"Further major projects are also under consideration across the country and we intend to announce one large scale scheme the size of the Shrewsbury and Telford plan every year going forward based on high-quality plans coming forward from local NHS leaders."

Health bosses said the scale of the funding will ensure "two vibrant hospitals" in Shrewsbury and Telford.

They also said it will keep services within the county and is expected to have a more immediate impact, by attracting expert consultants, doctors and nurses to work for hospitals destined to undergo a transformation.

Dr Simon Freeman, accountable officer for Shropshire CCG said: "Thank you to everyone who has been involved in helping us to reach this point.

"This is fantastic news for our local communities and a major step forward in making sure we can secure two vibrant hospitals and improve the care received by people across Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin and mid Wales now and in the future.”

David Evans, chief officer for NHS Telford and Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), added: “This is a massive endorsement of the tireless work of our clinicians, staff and local people in co-designing the best model of hospital care for our region.

"When we proceed to consultation, we want people across all the areas served to make sure they have their say.”

The shake-up will see an emergency care centre on one site with a planned care centre on the other, which health bosses say will reduce waiting times and less chance of operations being cancelled. Both sites will also have an urgent care centre that is open 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week.

The progression of Future Fit was postponed earlier this year when NHS England questioned where the funding would come from.

But following today's announcement final approval for the consultation can be given.

Simon Wright, chief executive of The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, commented: "This news sends out a clear message to our doctors, nurses and other frontline staff that we will be able to transform our hospital services to improve outcomes for our patients, reduce waiting times and cancellations and to become an even more attractive place for people to come and work."