Future Fit: MP calls for plans to go "back to the drawing board"

Mark Pritchard, Wrekin MP, says health bosses and the authors of a recent independent review need to go "back to the drawing board" when it comes to deciding the future of hospital services in Shropshire.

He said it was "gross folly" to consider downgrading the two-year-old £28 million, Women and Children's centre at Telford's hospital, purpose built to house consultant-led care, and move those services to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.

It comes as hospital bosses were today (Thursday) meeting to discuss a start date for public consultation over the future of services at hospitals.

The recommendation was being considered by a joint committee, at 6pm at Clayton Hall, Shrewsbury College.

At the end of last month, a meeting of the NHS Future Fit Programme Board, members renewed their recommendation that an emergency centre should be based at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, while the majority of day case surgery should be carried out at Telford’s Princess Royal Hospital.

The announcement comes more than eight months after the board originally made the same recommendation.

An independent review carried out since then has ruled the way the process was carried out was correct.

The recommended plans – as well as proposals that would see an emergency services centre at Telford – will go to public consultation once Future Fit is given the go-ahead from NHS England.

Bosses had hoped they could start public consultation in June, but due to not finding anyone to carry out the independent review, three months after it was announced, Future Fit was delayed further.

It is now expected that the consultation will start at the end of September or mid-October.

But Mr Pritchard has criticised the outcome of the independent review and said it should be re-done, taking in the "socio-demographic" evidence, claiming the downgrading of Telford's PRH would have a huge impact on the borough.

He also says he will be asking the speaker of the House of Commons for a parliamentary debate on the issue.

He says more thought should be given to the idea of a "super hospital" mid-way between Telford and Shrewsbury, something that was considered at the start of the Future Fit process but disregarded early on as being too expensive.

Despite his concerns for the plans, he said it was imperative that a decision is made quickly for the benefit of the whole of Shropshire.

Mr Pritchard said: "Along with local councillors, I will continue fighting to retain local services in our local hospital, that is what I have done for the last fifteen years.

"But whatever the outcome of all the various campaigns to save local hospital services a decision must be taken sooner rather than later - and in the interests of Shropshire as a whole."

Mr Pritchard also said he took issue with the proposals to close A&E at the Princess Royal Hospital overnight, something that has been heavily criticised by Telford & Wrekin Councillors.

Members of the council agreed a vote of no-confidence in the trust over the overnight closure proposals and called on Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt to intervene after it was proposed that the emergency department could close overnight from as early as September, because of staff shortages.