New neurology patients in Shropshire to be seen in Wolverhampton

Health bosses say neurology services at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SATH) have been unable to manage the demand of referrals due to staffing difficulties.

Neurology services treat conditions affecting the nervous system, including the brain, spinal cord, nerve, muscle and their connections.

The trust currently has two consultant neurologists supported by one locum. The national average is one neurologist per 80,000 people, which would equate to six neurologists for the population served by SATH.

Despite various recruitment drives, the trust has so far been unable to secure additional full-time or locum consultants.

Therefore the service in Shropshire will be temporarily unable to accept new referrals for six months to clear the backlog.

Health officials say 500 people are currently on the waiting list.

Patients referred to SATH prior to Tuesday, including those awaiting follow-up appointments or treatments, will not be affected by the change.

To help meet the current demand for referrals, Shropshire and Telford Clinical Commissioning Groups have commissioned The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust to temporarily provide the service for new patients.

Carol McInnes, assistant chief operating officer for unscheduled care at SATH, said: “The temporary suspension of neurology services to new referrals is not a decision we have taken lightly.

“The service has been under considerable pressure due to workforce constraints for some time. This is purely a short-term move and the operational team is fully committed to developing a sustainable solution for the service.

“I would like to apologise for any inconvenience this may cause people.”

Dr Julian Povey, chairman of Shropshire CCG, said: “We recognise that providing this interim service out of county isn’t ideal, but the service provided by The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust meets the high standards expected of any NHS provider and patients will continue to receive excellent standards of care.

“We would also like to thank The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust for supporting the CCGs and SATH at this time.

“We hope this arrangement will allow SATH time to address the issues it faces concerning pressures surrounding workforce constraints, and allow them to resume delivering this service going forward.”

SATH and the CCGs are already holding talks with neighbouring trusts about medium and longer term support and these talks will continue while the service is temporarily suspended to new referrals.