Meeting held with Indian Consulate in bid to recruit more A&E staff
The Chief Executive of SaTH met with officials from the Indian Consulate yesterday to explore ways of recruiting more staff to prevent an overnight closure of Telford's A&E.
The Chief Executive of the Trust which runs Shropshire’s two acute hospitals met with officials from the Indian Consulate in Birmingham yesterday to explore ways of preventing an overnight closure of the Accident and Emergency Department at the Princess Royal Hospital (PRH) in Telford.
Simon Wright, from The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH), attended the meeting along with Telford & Wrekin Council leader Councillor Shaun Davies to ask the Consul General of India in Birmingham, Dr Aman Puri, if they are able to help provide any staff from India.
Simon said: “We had a constructive conversation with the Dr Aman Puri whereby we asked for help in urgently attracting Middle Grade A&E Doctors to come and work at SaTH.
“We outlined the opportunities available for Middle Grade A&E Doctors from India, such as free accommodation, financial support for a return flight home in the first 12 months and a personal development allowance, and he said would work with us to promote the Trust in India.
“What we all want is to keep both Emergency Departments open 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week, and we will continue to explore every avenue possible. We are grateful for all the help and support we’re receiving from Telford & Wrekin Council and from all our local politicians. It’s really heartening to see what can be achieved through pooling ideas and working together.”
The meeting with the Indian Consulate is the latest move as officials from SaTH look at ways of avoiding the potential overnight closure of A&E at PRH.
The department currently remains open 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week. However, the Board of the Trust has agreed that the A&E could close between 8pm and 8am because of staff shortages that are impacting on patient safety.
If the recruitment of additional staff is not possible and an overnight closure becomes unavoidable, it would not happen until sometime in November.
CG Dr. Aman Puri held a constructive meeting to discuss the urgently needed A&E doctors & nurses at Telford hospital @sathNHS from India with Cllr. Rajash Mehta @TandWMayor , @CllrShaunDavies , Chief Executive of Shrewsbury & Telford hospitals, @SATH_CEO @moayush @MoHFW_INDIA pic.twitter.com/Xr1ATFpPCz https://twitter.com/CGI_Bghm/status/1052896541491515399?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
