Health secretary backs Future Fit plans
The decision to change the way the area's hospital services are delivered has been backed by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.
Last night it was revealed that Secretary of State for Health & Social Care, Matt Hancock MP, had written to the Leader of Telford & Wrekin Council saying following a review he backed the recommendations for Future Fit.
The decision, known as Future Fit, was made by Telford & Wrekin and Shropshire’s Clinical Commissioning Groups at the end of January.
In March, Telford and 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.
The request for a review was passed on to the Independent Reconfiguration Panel.
The Panel has now recommended the plans should proceed, with Emergency Care located at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, and an urgent care model to allow as much clinically appropriate care to be delivered at the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford as possible.
The Secretary of State has asked NHS England to provide advice on how the urgent care model can be provided through an A&E Local at the Princess Royal Hospital, and to report back in one month.
Council Leader says health and wellbeing of residents put at risk
The Leader of Telford & Wrekin Council, Councillor Shaun Davies has described the recommendation as “shocking”.
Councillor Davies said: “I am sick to the stomach. This is a shocking decision that puts the health and wellbeing of residents in Telford and Wrekin at risk.
“The Women and Children’s Centre was opened five years ago at a cost of £28million for compelling clinical reasons. All the statistics show that the population is younger in Telford and Wrekin and there are more complex births in this borough and this side of the county. To move a consultant-led Women and Children’s Centre away from Telford is risky.
“This decision isn’t just risky for people in Telford and Wrekin. People living in rural Shropshire and in mid Wales will also lose out because they will have to travel further for their planned care and operations.
“The Health Secretary has alluded to Telford having an ‘A&E Local’ although no-one, including people within the NHS, seem to know what one of those is. I fear it is just another name for a downgraded A&E. It will not be the full 24/7 A&E that Telford, the fastest growing town in the country, deserves.
“This Council will not simply roll over on this decision. We will continue to fight. We will look at all options available to us, including a judicial review which would be expensive with unpredictable results.
“I will work with our MPs who I urge to get around the table and meet the Health Secretary to make the strongest possible case to the Government, even at this eleventh hour, that this decision is simply not good enough.
“I also urge everyone; MPs, local councillors, residents, businesses and organisations to come together with a united voice and write to the Health Secretary.
“Make it clear directly to the man who made the decision, the Health Secretary, why you think the decision is wrong.”
Trust welcomes decision
The Trust that runs Shropshire’s two acute hospitals has welcomed the decision saying it will result in better care for patients, secure the £312 million from HM Treasury and develop both hospital sites to deliver state-of-the-art facilities in which staff will be proud to work and patients will choose to be treated.
Paula Clark, Chief Executive at SaTH, said: “This is great news for our Trust, but most importantly for the patients we serve across the whole of Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin and Mid Wales and for our staff, who have been waiting for this decision for many long years.
“The Independent Reconfiguration Panel visited the county to speak not only to our clinicians, but also to those who have objected to the plans, and they have made it clear that the proposals that have been put forward should go ahead without further delay. That was the unanimous verdict of all members of the panel.”
In its advice, the independent panel said: “The opportunity to visit the services and test the evidence with those involved locally served to reinforce the written evidence about the case for change.
“Even if the ever-present problems of recruiting clinical staff to achieve safe rotas were resolved, the current model of emergency services provided through the two hospitals compromises safety and quality.
“The Panel heard frequently from the clinicians responsible for delivering these services that this is a daily concern and drives their advocacy for a new model of hospital care which will provide what the population currently does not get – access to consistently safe, high-quality emergency care and treatment 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week.”
Number of recommendations
The panel’s advice comes with a number of recommendations, including that “the urgent care model should enable as much clinically appropriate care to be delivered at PRH as possible. Options for diagnostics, ambulatory emergency care and frailty assessment must be considered”.
Move forward
Mr Andrew Tapp, Medical Director for the Hospitals Transformation Programme at SaTH, said: “This is great news and means we can now move forward to provide better care for our patients who require emergency treatment and planned operations.
“Our hospitals serve more than half a million people and we owe it to them to provide the very best services possible. The reconfiguration of PRH and RSH will allow us to address the difficulties created by our current clinical set up and estate and resolve the continuing problems of staffing and recruitment.
“There is still a long way to go, and our Hospitals Transformation Team will be working hard with clinical and estates teams across the Trust to make sure we get the best possible outcome from the huge investment in our health service in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin.”
Create the right services
Dr Ed Rysdale, an A&E Consultant at SaTH, said: “This is excellent news and I am excited about getting further involved in the re-design. It’s about making sure we create the right services for our patients – this means having a first class emergency department and planned care facilities.
“The reconfiguration plans have been clinically led from the start and the time has now come for us to get on and do it.”
Clear advantages
Mr Mark Cheetham, Consultant Surgeon at SaTH, said: “The future model of care has clear advantages, it will provide better care and better results for our patients – and ensure that our two hospitals can continue to serve the people of Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin and mid Wales for a long time to come.
“It is now time to put past issues behind us and work with the people of Telford & Wrekin, and all other interested parties, to develop urgent care services at PRH.”
