A&E at Telford's Princess Royal Hospital could close overnight

A report going to the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust’s board tomorrow recommends a plan that would see A&E services at the Princess Royal Hospital closing between 8pm and 8am.

Emergency cases would be dealt with at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital during those hours, whilst an Urgent Care Centre would be available in Telford, which could take non-emergency walk-in cases.

The plan has been drawn up to deal with staffing shortages at the hospital and a failure to fill vacant posts.

If the go-ahead is given, planning for the closure of Telford's A&E overnight would take six months to complete.

Telford & Wrekin Council says the recommendation is the effective downgrading of the hospital via the backdoor. With the plan contradicting the argument that the Trust has already made that the £28 million Women & Children’s Centre at Princess Royal Hospital which opened just over two years ago must be on the same site as an A&E unit. Under this overnight closure plan the Women & Children’s Centre would remain in Telford.

Cllr Shaun Davies council leader said: “We will fight this tooth and nail – allowing to go ahead it will effectively start the downgrading of our hospital by the backdoor.

“How can it make sense? The Princess Royal Hospital is at the heart of the area’s biggest population which also has the greatest health needs.

“Clinical safety and business continuity are being used by SaTH to steamroller through a change that they know they cannot get through by other means.

“I believe this has always been SaTH’s agenda to sort out problems within the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital site at the expense of the population of Telford and Wrekin and the huge swathes of Shropshire for whom the Princess Royal Hospital is their hospital.

“SaTH have themselves said that the public should be consulted on any changes to hospital services yet in the next breath are seeking to railroad through their preferred option.

“The issues SaTH cite are of their own making and I have received many reports of a culture at SaTH that is overbearing. For example, for all the Trust’s talk of engaging stakeholders, it hasn’t had the courtesy of telling key partners such as this Council of the detail of this plan.

“I believe if SaTH’s board backs this recommendation tomorrow it is time for a No Confidence motion in SaTH and I shall be contacting be the secretary of State for Health urging him to intervene and place this Trust in special measures.

“Such a plan sadly comes as no surprise from a Trust of whose 12 Board members only one is resident in Telford and Wrekin.”