The MP for Redditch has written to the new boss of the local Acute Trust as part of her continued fight to secure the return of a maternity and children’s service to the Alexandra Hospital.

In the letter, the minister of state in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Rachel Maclean, has asked for a meeting with the recently appointed Chief Executive of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, Glen Burley, to discuss the services provided at the hospital.

She said: “Although I of course welcome the major, multi-million-pound investment we’ve seen in the Alex since I was first elected, I continue to believe it should be a hospital where women can once again give birth and where children can once again receive acute medical treatment.

“I have engaged extensively with Glen Burley’s predecessors and with clinical staff on the fight to return a maternity and children’s service, but I’m keen to meet with him and Managing Director Stephen Collman as we work constructively together to ensure my constituents receive the first-class healthcare they deserve.”

With the major multi-million-pound investment in the hospital in recent years, including new operating theatres, a Breast Imaging Unit and the return of the Garden Suite Chemotherapy Unit, the MP believes this is the ideal time to discuss future services at the Alexandra.

She continued: “With the NHS receiving record amounts of funding and with an expanded workforce at the Acute Trust, I genuinely believe there must be an opportunity for the Trust to think again about how it delivers services at the Alex.

“I’ve always believed in the art of possible, and especially so given the Trust’s current Clinical Services Strategy runs until 2025, providing us with an opportunity to discuss what services should be provided at the Alex from 2025 and beyond.”