Request to review Future Fit plans passed to Independent Reconfiguration Panel

Health Secretary Rt Hon Matt Hancock MP has passed Telford & Wrekin Council’s request to review Future Fit’s decision on to the next stage of the referral process.

Council leader Shaun Davies has given a guarded welcome following the news this afternoon that the request was being passed on to the Independent Reconfiguration Panel.

The panel will now review in more detail the case the council has made and is expected to report back by the end of May.

The decision, known as Future Fit, was made by Telford & Wrekin and Shropshire’s Clinical Commissioning Groups at the end of January. The Princess Royal Hospital in Telford will become a dedicated Planned Care site and the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital will become a specialist Emergency Care site.

Telford & Wrekin Council used its legal powers to refer the decision to the Secretary of State because it believes that the Future Fit decision is not in the best interests of health services in the area. The Council also says that the consultation with the Joint Scrutiny Committee was inadequate.

Cllr Davies said: “I have time and time again been asking the Secretary of State to intervene and he has now only agreed to do so after being forced to by our submission of the referral request.

“This decision makes it clear that we have made a strong and robust case, because the request could have been rejected at this stage.

“This is merely the first step in what I fully expect to be a drawn-out process but we must make sure that it does not lead to the Health Secretary just kicking the Future Fit can further down the road. It avoids him making any decision until after May’s elections.”