Vision drawn up to make Shropshire people 'healthiest on planet'

Future emergency care at the county's two major hospitals and measures help to support GPs and provide health and social care services in the community have been included in a new sustainability and transformation plan for Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin.

Simon Wright, chief executive of Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, was today meeting his NHS England counterpart Simon Stevens to discuss the plan, which was submitted to the national body for approval earlier this week.

A decision on whether the blueprint will receive NHS England's blessing is expected in the near future.

Work carried out as part of the Future Fit programme – which could just one A&E unit run at either the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital or Telford's Princess Royal to cover all of Shropshire and large swathes of Mid Wales – will be included in the plan.

STPs are being created in 44 areas across the country to bring health and care leaders, organisations and communities together to develop blueprints for improved health, care and finances over the next five years.

Mr Wright said: "We have a vision for our population to be the healthiest on the planet.

"Our transformation journey has already started, which includes our work with NHS Future Fit.

"For health and social care to meet the needs of future patients in a sustainable way, we need to close the gaps in health, finance and quality of care between where we are now and where we need to be in 2020/21.

"The opportunity to develop the STP is particularly timely for us because it will enable us to continue the work we have done on the Future Fit Programme – including our strategic outline case for our sustainable services programme – but importantly the development of three neighbourhood approaches for Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin and the people of Powys.

"These models will support our GPs and look to deliver integrated services which will make a significant difference to all of our communities without replacing any of the plans already developed.

"The STP will help drive a genuine and sustainable transformation in health and care outcomes, and help build and strengthen local relationships, enabling a shared understanding of where we are now, where we want to be in 2021 and the concrete steps that need to be taken in order to get us there.

"This will be a major plan which we're committed to deliver.

"I don't underestimate that there is a lot of work to do but I'm confident that by working with our patients, members of the public, and staff across the healthcare systems we'll deliver the care we want for our patients, families and carers."