One Shropshire A&E unit will be axed in next decade
One of the emergency departments at Shropshire's two main hospitals will close during the next decade, it has been revealed.
A meeting of health executives from the county yesterday decided a new emergency centre would be built at either Telford or Shrewsbury.
It rules out a third option of building on a new site between the two towns, on the basis it would cost the NHS between £15 million and £17 million a year.
David Evans, chief officer of Telford and Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Group, also said it was also extremely unlikely the status quo – with A&E units at both Telford's Princess Royal and the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital – would be maintained.
But he added that new "urgent care centres" – including ones at Shrewsbury and Telford – could be created as part of the shake-up, which would be able to deal with 75 per cent of patients who use the existing A&E units.
Mr Evans said in future the new single emergency department would only deal with life-threatening conditions, where patients were brought into hospital by ambulance. All other cases would be handled by the urgent care centres.
He said while the possibility of keeping both hospitals as they are would have to be technically considered, the reality was that retaining emergency units on both sites would not be economically viable, costing in the region of £8 million a year.
Mr Evans said having emergency care concentrated on a single site would lead to better services for patients.
"The estates that we have at the moment are relatively old, the fabric isn't that great," he said.
Mr Evans added that in addition to the hospitals at Telford and Shrewsbury, urgent care centres were being considered for the hospitals at Bishop's Castle, Bridgnorth, Ludlow, Oswestry and Whitchurch.
The board is due to decide on its preferred option at a meeting in October.
