Backing for hospital plan
A former Shropshire hospital boss who put forward his own "radical" proposals for improving patient services was today backed by council chiefs.
Telford & Wrekin Council said the "wide-ranging plans" drawn up by David Sandbach, former Princess Royal Hospital chief executive, provided further evidence that the proposals recently produced by NHS managers were flawed and ill-founded.
The key issue in the NHS proposals presented to Telford & Wrekin Primary Care Trust is to downgrade A&E and surgical care at the PRH by centralising services in Shrewsbury.
The main reason given for this recommendation was the high cost of building new clinical facilities at the PRH.
But Mr Sandbach's proposals confirm the huge potential for providing main A&E and surgical services at the PRH without the need for major extensions - a case the council has already put to the trust.
Councillor Andrew Eade, leader of Telford & Wrekin Council said: "I have raised concerns about the proposals to downgrade PRH over a number of months and the whole council is united in its opposition against them. We will be considering Mr Sandbach's proposals very carefully, but his paper again demonstrates there has not been a fair and objective approach from NHS managers in reviewing the options.
"It is clearly possible to continue to provide the present level of services and add to them at the PRH and we will be making this case most forcefully between now and the PCT's meeting on 27 October."
The trust will meet again on October 27 so that a report from the managers of Princess Royal and Royal Shrewsbury Hospitals can be considered.
That report will identify whether alternatives can be put forward that enable services at both hospitals to continue without significant changes pending a long-term decision being made in 2011.
Councillor Keith Austin, leader of the council's Labour Group said: "There is huge concern locally about the original proposal to move services away from PRH. This would be a disastrous step for the health of local people and the evidence is mounting that there is no sound basis to do so. "
Meanwhile the latest cyber-campaign has attracted thousands of supporters in a matter of days. More than 1,000 people have so far shown their concern for the hospital's future on the social networking site Facebook by becoming members of the Save the Princess Royal group.
