Consultant says 'hospital services transformation will improve care for everyone'
A Consultant in Emergency Medicine at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust, says planned improvements will bring together specialist teams so that patients are seen faster, leading to a quicker diagnosis and shorter hospital stays.
Dr Ed Rysdale said that plans to upgrade acute hospital services will see the population of Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin and mid Wales benefit from better quality care and fewer delays for treatment.
Under the plans, Telford will specialise in planned care with Shrewsbury specialising in emergency care. Planned care services in Telford will be available throughout the year leading to fewer cancellations and delays for operations.
Improved emergency care services will be delivered from a new, purpose-built Emergency Department in Shrewsbury, meaning that patients will be seen more quickly, with shorter stays and faster ambulance handover times.
Enhanced urgent care services will be available 24/7 on both sites, and be delivered through a new A&E Local Model in Telford staffed by a team of health, care and community specialists.
Dr Rysdale said: “These improvements will benefit all of our patients and enable us to provide the high-quality care that our patients need.
“We can’t continue as we are. Our patients regularly experience delays in accessing the right specialist teams and it is vital that our facilities support modern healthcare practices.”
Dr Rysdale added: “This represents a fantastic opportunity to optimise the delivery of our services across two thriving hospital sites.
“These changes will help us to make sure that everyone has access to the right care, at the right time, from the right clinicians when they need it most. The reconfiguration of services will also help us to attract more of the right specialist staff and to retain those we have now.”
