KIDDERMINSTER MP Dr Richard Taylor said problems with admissions at Worcestershire Royal were inevitable.

The Independent MP and retired consultant said he was not surprised by suggestions that the hospital was struggling to deal with the demand on its services.

He said the obvious solution was to return facilities to Kidderminster that were removed when the hospital was downgraded.

"You can't serve the vast majority of the county in a hospital designed for just the south of the county," said Dr Taylor.

He said the problems could be reduced by the introduction of more elective surgery and emergency facilities at Kidderminster.

"If there was some sort of emergency assessment centre at Kidderminster, it would take much of the load off the Medical Assessment Unit and the A&E department in Worcester," said Dr Taylor.

"The answer is just so obvious. The buildings are there at Kidderminster and just waiting to be used.

"It's been suggested that GPs use community hospitals, but in Kidderminster we've got a big building that's partly empty.

"I'm really completely fed up with repeating the same message time and time again.

"I'm trying not to say 'I told you so', but everything we've ever forecast is coming true. It's putting intolerable pressure on GPs."

But Dr Taylor stressed that he was not criticising hospital staff, who, he said, were "struggling like mad" to make the service work.