Fragile staffing rates 'could close Telford A&E'
The accident and emergency unit at Princess Royal Hospital Telford will close overnight if another consultant leaves, councillors have been told.
Members of Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin councils joint health overview committee discussed the fragility of the county's emergency services at a meeting earlier this week.
They heard that there are just five 'in-post substantive' and four locum consultants that cover A&E services across the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and Princess Royal Hospital in Telford.
Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust has said there should be 20 in post.
The trust said that it cannot continue to carry the level of risk of having so few consultants.
It has said that another resignation would be enforce the closure of the A&E in Telford overnight.
A report to the councils' joint health overview and scrutiny committee outlined the fragility of the emergency departments.
The trust's chief operating officer, Debbie Kadum, said the problems were linked to the regional and national workforce shortage.
"Due to the challenges of the current workforce configuration across two sites the on call rota is particularly demanding for our substantive workforce, some of whom will consistently provide cover twice a week," she said.
"The trust cannot continue to carry this level of risk."
The problems are aggravated because there are also not enough middle grade doctors employed in the department, and while nurse staffing vacancies have slightly improved there is concern about the high level of vacancies and agency cover.
Risks include the inability to recruit into posts, the increasing number of vacancies and the financial impact of expensive locum cover.
The report said the trust has looked at offering enhanced rates to attract doctors into emergency medicine but the idea was not carried through because of a lack of money.
On Thursday the trust board will hear an outline of its progress towards developing a service continuity plan.
This states that unless the trust can recruit more A&E consultants or locum doctors it will have to temporarily suspend services at the emergency department at the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford overnight.
It states: "Should the trust receive a resignation from a substantive consultant the plan will need to be enacted. Equally should the trust reach a position where the middle grade vacancies are such that senior cover is not available overnight for the foreseeable future this would also trigger the enactment of the plan."
