Labour would not block the opening of a long-awaited new Black Country hospital, Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth said.

A Labour government would press ahead with the 650-bed Midland Metropolitan Hospital in Smethwick, which is under construction and due to open in October 2018.

Mr Ashworth said: "We are not going to halt this new hospital. There is no question of doing that."

It comes after Labour pledged to halt what it called the Tories' chaotic Sustainability and Transformation Plan programme, which is designed to save £22 billion in the NHS across the country.

Plans to downgrade services at Sandwell Hospital in the Black Country and City Hospital in Birmingham (also known as Dudley Road Hospital), and replace them with services at the new Midland Metropolitan Hospital, are a key part of the Black Country STP.

And the statement issued by Labour on Wednesday May 3 specifically refers to these plans as among the measures it would halt while they were reviewed by a new Labour government.

The document highlights: "Black Country – merger of two general hospitals to a single site".

Section of a Labour statement setting out the party's plan to 'immediately halt' the sustainability and transformation plan programme.
Section of a Labour statement setting out the party's plan to 'immediately halt' the sustainability and transformation plan programme.

And it later specifies that the downgrade of "City Hospital, Birmingham" and "Sandwell District General Hospital", which are to be "Replaced by unit at new Midland Metropolitan Hospital in 2018", are among the measures included.

Section of a Labour statement setting out the party's plan to 'immediately halt' the sustainability and transformation plan programme.

However both Mr Ashworth and local Labour MP Tom Watson (Lab West Bromwich East), Labour's Deputy Leader, say there is no question of halting the Midlands Metropolitan Hospital scheme.

Mr Watson, who has supported construction of the new hospital, said Labour wanted to improve the way local people were consulted about the plans and about changes to local NHS services in general.

The new hospital plan has not been without problems. Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust is reportedly considering scaling back services after concluding that the hospital is set to overspend by £12 million a year under current plans.

The Midland Metropolitan Hospital will take in services from City and Sandwell hospitals.
The Midland Metropolitan Hospital will take in services from City and Sandwell hospitals.

Sustainability and Transformation Plans have included controversial cuts in other parts of the country which are opposed by many local people. Examples include the closure of A&E services at George Eliot Hospital in Nuneaton, which would be halted under Labour’s plans.

The reference to the Black Country proposal in Labour’s statement appears to be based on reports in the national media, which have described plans for the “merger of two general hospitals to a single site” without explaining that this involves building a major new hospital which was planned long before work began on Sustainability and Transformation Plans.