Call for Future Fit rethink over fears rural areas ignored
A councillor has called for a rethink of a project to reshape NHS services in the county as she claims the needs of rural communities have been largely ignored.
Tracey Huffer, Shropshire councillor for Ludlow East, herself a nurse, has said the NHS Future Fit review has spent too much time considering bank-breaking options for A&E, and not enough on the future of care in outlying towns such as Ludlow.
She said with an overhaul of A&E services in Shrewsbury and Telford estimated to cost up to £354 million, it would "leave the pot empty" for community hospitals for Ludlow, which had been given little attention under the plans.
She said: "There needs to be stronger recognition of the needs of rural communities and the difficulties they have in getting access to expert heath care.
"Future services should build on the health provision we already have, not try to reinvent it from scratch."
Three options have been revealed involving the closing of A&E at either Royal Shrewsbury Hospital or Telford's Princess Royal Hospital.
A fourth option still being left open is to keep current services unchanged. A new A&E centre at a site between the two hospitals has been ruled out as too costly.
Councillor Huffer said: "The problem has been that this project has been based on what might be, rather than what can be.
"Future Fit has spent a lot of time considering options that can't be delivered.
"But it has always been obvious that we could never afford the half a billion pounds a new hospital would cost.
"At the same time, Future Fit has largely ignored the very significant problems that rural areas like Ludlow face in getting access to health services. It has failed to recognise the contribution that community hospitals like Ludlow are making and can make to health care."
Public consultation over the Future Fit options is due to take place from December.
