Health bosses hold talks in bid to save Shrewsbury town centre blood service
Health bosses are in talks about whether a blood collection service can continue in Shrewsbury town centre.
It emerged last month that the phlebotomy service provided at Princess House, in The Square, would have to move to Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH), due to "unexpected costs".
Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust had a contract with Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust to use a room within Princess House.
But Simon Wright, chief executive of SaTH, said the trust is now being asked to pay rent, when there had been no costs for using the building previously.
He said the trust was now in talks with health commissioners and Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust to try to salvage the town-centre service.
Mr Wright said: "We've been providing a service for nearly 20 years and we haven't been paying rent. We've now been asked to pay rent.
"We are having conversations at the moment to try and clear that up.
"We might have to bring the service back to the hospital but I hope we don't.
"The service we have now is a good service. We don't want to move it but this question about rent is an issue."
Gill George, chairwoman of Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Defend Our NHS, has written to Mr Wright outlining her concerns.
She said it will impact patients who will have to travel further to RSH and pick up the extra costs.
Commitment
She added: "This is how we risk losing the NHS. It’s not just about the big headline cuts projects like Future Fit.
"It’s a death by a thousand cuts scenario, the quiet whittling away of services that people depend on.
"If there’s a short-term glitch around accommodation for the blood testing clinic, fine – but using this as an excuse to close the service permanently isn’t on. We want to see a rock solid commitment to this service being reopened."
Elizabeth House, based at RSH, already provides walk-in phlebotomy clinics.
The town-centre location allowed phlebotomy services to be provided to about 300 patients a week.
That includes morning appointments for Riverside and Claremont Bank GP Practices, as well as an afternoon walk-in service for all Shropshire GP patients.
SaTH previously said that the two GP surgeries are unable to accommodate the service, and SaTH has been unable to find an alternative community location.
Shropshire Defend Our NHS is asking anyone who may be affected by the issue to contact the group by emailing info@defendournhs.org
The PALS service at RSH is also happy to answer questions. Call PALS on 01743 261691.
