Council to hold extraordinary meeting to discuss PRH A&E overnight closure

An extraordinary meeting of Telford & Wrekin Council will take place later this month to discuss the overnight closure of Telford’s Princess Royal Hospital accident and emergency department.

Last week the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals Trust (SaTH) board agreed to start the temporary overnight closure in November.

SaTH say the key reason for the closure is the shortage of middle grade A&E doctors and nurses. It is expected the closure will last at least six months.

The motion has been proposed by Council leader Shaun Davies and seconded by deputy leader Richard Overton.

It states: This Council is gravely concerned by the planned overnight closure of PRH’s A&E due start in November. This Council has seen this coming for the past two years, and from October 2016, the Leader has contacted the Secretary of State numerous times to warn about the situation at SaTH.

Now at the 11th hour, this Council again calls on the Secretary of State to intervene to support the key priority agreed with SaTH and all necessary actions to prevent the overnight closure of Telford’s PRH’s A&E, namely:

• To allocate extra middle grade A&E doctors and nurses to SaTH as a matter of urgency as current staffing levels make keeping two A&Es open impossible for the Trust to maintain

• Work with the Home Office to expedite stalled visa applications from doctors and fast track successful applicants to work in A&E at SaTH

• To provide central funding to help SaTH acquire a new radiology scanner at PRH to ensure its A&E can remain open overnight.

The EGM will be at Oakengates Theatre at 6pm on Monday 29 October.